People ex rel. Longress v. Board of Education

Citations

• 101 Ill. 308
• 1882 Ill. LEXIS 86

Syllabus

<p>1. Quo warranto—when the proper remedy—where boan-d of education undertakes to exercise powers it does not possess. Under our statute an information in the nature of a quo warra/nto lies against a board of education when it undertakes to exercise any powers not conferred by law, and in such proceeding the legality of any rule adopted by the board for the admission of pupils in the public schools may be tested.</p> <p>2. Schools—colored pupils■—discrimination against them as to what schools they may attend. The board of education of the city of Quincy divided the city into eight school districts, and by proper rules provided that no pupil should enter a school out of the district in which he or she resided, without permission of the superintendent, etc. The board also adopted a rule that no pupil of African descent should be permitted to attend any of the public schools of the city other than those designated for their use, and that all the colored pupils in the city should attend a certain public school in said city called the Lincoln school, and no other: Held, that the board, under the constitution and laws of the State, had no authority to adopt and enforce the rule in relation to colored pupils.</p> <p>3. Under the laws of Illinois, aside from the fourteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States, directors of schools and boards of education have no discretion to deny a pupil of the proper age admission to the public schools on account of nationality, color or religion. They all stand equal under the law, and no discrimination in that regard can be made.</p>