Charles B. Booker, Petitioners-Appellants v. Board of Education of the City of Plainfield, Union County…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the State Board of Education's affirmation of the Commissioner of Education's approval of the local Board's Sixth Grade Plan and remanded the case for further determination of appropriate remedial action to address racial imbalance in Plainfield elementary schools. The Court held that state constitutional and statutory provisions impose an affirmative duty to eliminate substantial racial imbalance, not limited to schools that are "almost entirely Negro," and that the Commissioner must reconsider the adequacy of the plan in light of current enrollment data.