In America, though it is traditional that the states assume the function of educating children, most of the funding and much of the control of the educational process has been carried on by local school districts. However, the inequities accompanying this situation have prompted Court decisions and then legislation which attempted to correct the social and economic disadvantages of such a system. The Supreme Court decision, Brown v. The Board of Education (1954), along with the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's had an impact on education in local communities all over the United States.