Nearly 70 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools are inherently unequal, public schools in New Jersey remain sharply divided along racial and socioeconomic lines. While the state is one of the most diverse in the nation, it also ranks among the most segregated when it comes to education. In response, civil rights groups, including the Latino Action Network and the NAACP New Jersey State Conference, filed a groundbreaking lawsuit in 2018: Latino Action Network et al. v. State of New Jersey. The case has drawn comparisons to Brown due to its statewide scope and constitutional claims.
The plaintiffs argue that New Jersey’s school system is racially and economically segregated in violation of the state constitution, which explicitly prohibits segregation in public education. According to data cited in the case, nearly half of all Black and Latino students in New Jersey attend schools where more than 90 percent of students are nonwhite. In contrast, many white students attend schools that are majority white. This creates vast disparities in educational opportunity, resources, and outcomes.
In October 2023, Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy ruled that New Jersey had allowed a “marked and persistent racial imbalance” in its schools and had not fulfilled its constitutional duty to address it. However, he stopped short of declaring the entire school system unconstitutional, which led to 15 months of closed-door mediation between the plaintiffs and the state.
That mediation collapsed in early 2025. Plaintiffs have since appealed, asking a higher court to order the state to implement real solutions, such as magnet schools, inter-district transfers, or redistricting—tools that have helped other states reduce school segregation.
This case is one of the few in the nation challenging statewide educational segregation in the 21st century. Advocates believe it could set a powerful precedent, forcing states to take direct responsibility for long-standing racial and economic inequalities in public education.
If the courts side with the plaintiffs, the impact could be transformative—not just for New Jersey, but for the country. A ruling in favor of integration could reignite national efforts to dismantle modern-day segregation in schools, many of which remain divided by race and income decades after Brown. New Jersey has a chance to become a model for equitable education reform, demonstrating that bold legal action can still move the nation closer to the promise of equal opportunity for all students.