PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Tanya McDowell, a Connecticut mother, is facing charges as a felon for lying about her 5 year old son’s address so he could attend a better school. An Ohio mother did the same thing a year ago and was convicted.

This kind of civil disobedience has come up in conversations about our public schools and how they should be improved as we celebrate the 57th anniversary of the historic 1954 supreme court Brown vs. Board of Education decision reaffirming that separate but equal schools have no place in our nation.

On CNN Sam Chaltain makes the case that parents should not feel that they must break the law for equal opportunity for their kids and that zip codes should not determine access to quality of our children’s education and their chances for success.

With de facto segregation in most major urban areas, poor children have less chance for success.

Visit CNN.com/2011/opinion for Sam Chaltain’s article.

Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio