[meretwins]

The U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down 50 years ago in Brown vs. Board of Education ended segregated classrooms. On May 17, 1954, the high court declared the policy of "separate but equal," unconstitutional. The landmark case was actually a combination of several cases with one goal, to end racial segregation in education. The ruling changed the public school system and the country. Thurgood Marshall who later became a Supreme Court justice argued the case. One of the cases rolled into Brown vs. Board of Education was a case with roots in Farmville, Va., in Prince Edward County. In 1951, students at Robert Russa Moton High School staged a peaceful strike led by student Barbara Johns. The students called for a new school to replace their overcrowded high school. John Watson who attended Moton High told News4, "We were having classes on school buses, in the auditorium and out on the lawn in warm weather. It was ridiculous." While the Supreme Court ruling ended government sanctioned segregation in schools, Secretary of Education Rod Page said challenges still exist. "We've come a long way in almost every measure," Page said. "There still exists some voluntary segregation in the United States of America. Segregation based on housing patterns and segregation based on economic circumstances." Arlington County was the first school jurisdiction in Virginia to desegregate following the ruling. A special marker will be dedicated at Stratford Junior High School during a 12:30 p.m. ceremony today

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