Award Date

1-1-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Committee Member

Lloyd Bishop

Number of Pages

143

Abstract

Kelly et al. v. Clark County School District (1972) is the title of a case initiated in 1968. The lawsuit alleged that de facto segregation existed in six elementary schools in Westside Las Vegas, 14 years following Brown v. Board of Education (1954) which called for the desegregation of American public schools. The case ended in 1972 with a victory for the plaintiffs, with the ordering of desegregation of the elementary schools in question. The purpose of this study was to examine the history of Kelly et al. v. Clark County School District (1972). Included in the study were a review of legal cases beginning in 1820 that led to Brown and a chronology of the Kelly lawsuit from its inception in 1968 through its 1977 conclusion. The ruling to institute the sixth grade center plan was made in 1972, however the court made the final ruling in 1977, five years after the plan was operational. At this time, the court was satisfied that the school district was carrying the order to desegregate by using busing and terminated its jurisdiction. In addition, three notable participants in the case were interviewed in person and one, though he did not agree to an interview in person, filled out an interview questionnaire. The questionnaire contained essentially the same questions which had been asked of the other three interviewees. The questions that guided this historical study concerned the cause of the lawsuit, the position of the Nevada legislature, the efforts toward desegregation following Brown, the course taken by the Clark County School District after Brown which fostered segregated elementary schools, and the drawbacks or obstacles to desegregation experienced by the district. This study found that the schools were segregated and according to the courts, official actions on the part of the Clark County School District contributed to the segregation which existed.

Keywords

Case; Clark; Clark County; County; Desegregation; District; Desegregation History; Kelly; Kelly et al. v. Clark County School District; Las Vegas; Nevada; School; Vegas

Controlled Subject

Education; History; Law; Public policy

File Format

pdf

File Size

3809.28 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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