Text of the Proposed Amendment

Following is the text of the second (and apparently final) draft of a proposed constitutional amendment on school desegregation drafted in 1970 when William H. Rehnquist was assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel:

PROPOSED ARTICLE 26 Section 1. No provision of the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit the United States, any State, or any subdivision of either, from assigning persons to its educational facilities on the basis of geographic boundaries, provided only that such boundaries are reasonably related to school capacity, availability of transportation, safety or other similar considerations.

Section 2. No provision of the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit the United States, any State, or any subdivision of either, from permitting persons to choose or transfer voluntarily among its educational facilities, provided only that the opportunity to choose or transfer is available to all persons within its jurisdiction or to any eligible person, when standards of eligibility are reasonably related to school capacity, availability of transportation, safety or other similar considerations.