School desegregation measures blocked
The Supreme Court today struck down as unconstitutional two school districts’ plans to keep their schools’ racial makeup in balance. I haven’t had a chance to read the almost 200-page opinion yet, but my initial reaction is that this seems wrong. When I was in high school, we had probably 23 African American kids in my class of 740 students. Many of those students were bussed in on ONE bus from the far reaches of our district so that we could have a more “balanced” school. The districts in today’s opinion set limits of no less than 15% and no more than 50% African American so that the schools would be more representative of society at large. I would like to think they would have bussed in white kids to majority African American neighborhoods to make that happen.
That said, I’m a parent. I want my kid at the very best school he can attend and, believe me, we’re paying the school taxes to prove it. But I also know that his elementary school is 12% African American, 7% Asian and 18% Hispanic — much like the country’s makeup. I feel confident that he will be exposed to a variety of kids. But at least we have the choice. We lived in a majority African American neighborhood of DC (in fact, I swear we were the only White/Hispanic couple for miles). One of the reasons we left was that we knew our kids would be underserved at the local schools. Teachers don’t want to teach there and the really smart kids who are in those classrooms are shortchanged. It’s a very sad situation and I fear that the Supreme Court just made it worse. Instead of banning minimum/maximum diversity plans, perhaps they should have been making them mandatory.
June 28th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I am still digesting the decision myself. But one aspect that I find troubling is that many parents in these districts liked their schools and the diversity that the assignment system provided. Seems very “un-conservative” to deprive local districts of the ability to make choices about what matters in public education. Again, that is just an off the cuff comment; I may have a different view after assessing the decision more closely. And of course, I am actually opposed to the concept of public education (promotes conformity, mediocrity, rote learning, teaching to the test, etc…) that I send my daughters to private school though the tuition is killing me!
June 29th, 2007 at 10:00 am
It’s funny, this is one of the cases I listened to while preparing for moot court. Oyez.org: Oral Argument - PARENTS INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SCHOOLS v. SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 et al.
I haven’t had a chance to read the opinion, but from what I remember of the arguments, I can’t help but think that race has become an increasingly antiquated and ill-fitting proxy for money - how much the district has, how much the parents have and what we think that might mean for the environment we send our kids into. This case is relevant only in light of our insistence on wrestling with the demons of the present (school funding disparity and the subsequent inequality) with the paradigm of the past (Brown).
June 30th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Good point. Perhaps instead of viewing it as a need to integrate races, the schools/government/society should focus on the need for class integration or a system that more equitably distributes funds to schools across the board. We’re paying an insane amount for our local school district but it’s one of the best in the state. I went to a public high school in a very upper-class WASPy area of Pennsylvania and the moved during my senior year to a D.C. public high school. There was a stunning difference in resources. Even though the school I attended was one of the “better” schools, we still had to buy our own AP books and there was a huge difference in teachers/resources between the honors/AP classes and the non-core subjects. I came to find out that many parents camped out all night for a lottery to allow their kids to attend the better school because their neighborhood schools were failing. If I thought the school I attended was “bad”, what on earth were their neighborhood schools facing? Perhaps they didn’t even have art or music?
July 1st, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I am truly torn about this decision. I was bused briefly when I was in elementary school and it was a very surreal experience. I liked the school and the other kids, but I didn’t form many major relationships because I never saw them after school or hung out during the weekend (it really was too far for both parties). But to go to a school and never/rarely interact with another segment of society seems like a depauperate education.
The one thing I would like to see is a more equitable system of funding. I don’t have kids, but my own hometown works with property taxes. Therefore, if you live in the McMansion area, higher property taxes, more money for schools. I know there has been some talk that this is changing. I need to educate myself more about this.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’m not surprised about this decision. I don’t know much about it, but given the cases we read in Con Law, my understanding is that decisions based on race were never meant to be permanent, only a temporary solution. I think Justice O’Connor said something about a time were race would cease to be an issue in this country.