this is the Education Report.Sixty years ago this month,the highest court in the United Stateschanged American education.On May 17, 1954,all nine judges of the Supreme Courtruled against racial separation in public schools.The court says such segregation in schoolsviolates the United States constitution.Many school systems had separate schoolsfor white students and black studentsat the time of the ruling.The system was the result of a court ruling from 1896，that decision had permittedso called "separate but equal" schools.Some schools had only white children,others had only black children.About sixty years later,the case Brown vs the Board of Educationcame before the Supreme Court.It involved five separate legal actions,but it centered on an African-American childfrom the state of Kansas.Linda Brown lived just short distance from a school,but she was forced to travel across town to a black schoolbecause the school near her permitted only white students.Aderson Francois teaches law at Howard University in Washington D.C.He says the case ended official racial separation in the United States."Brown essentially ended American apartheid...if by that we mean the process by which the governmentofficially classifies people by race," said Francois.But Mr. Francois criticized the rulingbecause it did not set a time limitby which segregation had to end.As a result, some segregated schools in the southdid not obey the Supreme Court ruling until the 1960s.Even today, many schools are still effectively segregated.In 2012, the Civil Rights Projectat the University of Californiastudied racial populations in schools.The study showed that many schoolsare less racially mixed than forty years ago.The study says social and economic issues are partly to blame.It also says some court caseshave weakened enforcement of desegregation.That does not surprise education activist Jeanette Taylor.She came to Washington recently with other activists.They urged officials to act to stop putting more moneyinto mainly white schoolsthan those with many minority students."So we're here today to tell themto stop pushing bad policies," said Taylor.Jitu Brown is with the Journey for Justice Alliance.He says separation based on race still exists.And he criticizes a recent Supreme Court decision,it ruled that the state of Michigancan bar public colleges and universitiesfrom considering a person's race when they decide whom to admit.Education officials say the number of African-American studentshas decreased at schools in states with similar bans.And from VOA Learning English,that's the Education Report.更多听力请访问51voa.com