Question

At the time of the Brown v. Board of Education decision,
schools were segregated everywhere in the country.
several states had laws requiring segregated schools.
schools in nearly every state had been desegregated.
segregation was common in the North, but not in the South.

Answer 1

several states had laws requiring segregated schools.

Explanation: By 1954 segregation was enforced by law (de jure) in many Southern states, while in much of the North segregation was often de facto (by practice and housing patterns), not legally required. Brown challenged the constitutionality of state-enforced school segregation.