Rodriguez, 1973 v/s The court refused to strike down the property tax as method for financing schools, holding that education was not a constitutional right, and that variations in expenditures could not be proven to be "invidiously discriminating" against a specific class of persons. (Levitan 276-277).
The Supreme Court held an increasingly important role in attempting to equalize the education system throughout the 1970's. At first, the job of enforcing the Supreme Court's decisions fell entirely on the citizens who filed suits in lower courts. The federal government intervened occasionally during the Kennedy administration as a "friend of the court," but these efforts were slow and achieved little progress. Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 authorized the government to become involved to insure that school districts complied with desegregation policies by providing for assistance in helping schools comply, authorizing the attorney general to sue to obtain compliance and allowing for a cut-off of federal funds to any school guilty of racial discrimination. Social reform brought fundamental educational changes during the 1960's. Racial isolation, established by law, was largely eliminated in the South. Moreover, throughout the nation, the rights of blacks and especially poor blacks to equal education opportunities were recognized, if not always realized (Levitan 275-286). For many years, some people were not ready to accept that the time had come for minorities to be accepted in society as equals with equal rights under the law. When he was inaugurated governor of Alabama on January 14, 1963, George C. Wallace said "I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyrannyand I say segregation nowsegregation tomorrowsegregation forever" (Hampton 123). Governor Wallace was not alone in this sentiment, there were many who felt the same.
