In 1954, the Supreme Court in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka declared that ``segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, in contravention of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment". The Court further stated that, ``the doctrine of `separate but equal' had no place in the field of public education, since separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" (Supreme Court - 1954).
Nine years later, the New Haven School Board, led by superintendent of schools Laurence G. Paquin, began to devise plans for improving the racial balance in the city's public schools. This action was partly in response to the demands of the local NAACP and the black community, but also reflected the School Board's belief that integrating the schools was fair and just.
On 23 September 1963, the New Haven Board of Education unanimously approved the following statement:
The New Haven Board of Education concurs in the principle that racially imbalanced schools are educationally unsound. Recognizing the fact that housing patterns have resulted in racial imbalance in certain of the New Haven Schools, the Board resolves to seek for adoption a feasible plan or plans designed to provide intermingling of pupils from a broad spectrum of racial, as well as social backgrounds.To the extent that a feasible plan or plans can be developed within the financial ability of the City and within the capability of the Department of Education staff to evolve and inaugurate the proposals, the target date for implementation of this resolution is 1 September 1964.