Education: Dissenter in the Administration

Even though the Nixon Administration has veered away from a strong school integration policy, U.S. Commissioner of Education James E. Allen Jr. has stuck to his own course. Long a staunch opponent of segregation —de facto or de jure—Allen last week issued a statement that seemed critical of the legal distinctions central to President Nixon's March 24 desegregation message. "There is no way," said Allen, "whereby the principle of equality of educational opportunity can be made to accommodate the continuing existence of segregated schools in a democratic society—no matter how difficult the problems involved in eliminating them may be."

Desegregation, wrote Nixon...