This study of a court decision on public school desegregation notes the importance of the case, In re Skipwith, as a test of the relationship of the Fourteenth Amendment to school assignment to a defacto segregated school. The background of the controversy is presented. A summary of the case includes the parents' defense against charges by the Board of Education of child neglect, the arguement of the Board, and the court's opinion. The court ruled that the parents were justified in keeping their children out of an inferior school on the grounds that they were denied equal protection of the laws (under the Fourteenth Amendment) at their local school. The precedent-setting nature of the case is discussed in relation to its ramifications for the entire issue of school desegregation and educational equality. (NH)