e-lecture #1: segregation and desegregation in american schools

E-Lecture #1:Segregation and Desegregation

in American Schools

• How segregated were American schools in the past, and how segregated are they today, especially in urban areas? What explains these patterns?

• What relationships exist between school segregation, on the one hand, and educational quality and equality, on the other?

• How have people over time tried to address these relationships, and what are the costs and benefits of each approach?

• How should the answers to these questions influence our work as urban educators?

Framing Questions (from syllabus):

How segregated were American schools in the past, and how

segregated are they today?

Is the American school-age population:1. Mostly white (>80%)?

2. Majority white (>50%)?

3. Plurality white, but no majority group?

Pause and think:

Is the American school-age population:1. Mostly white (>80%)?

2. Majority white (>50%)?

3. Plurality white, but no majority group?

Orfield and Lee (2006)

Pause and think:

Percentage of Public School Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity

2006

Whites 57%

Blacks 17%

Hispanics 21%

Other 6%


1968 2006

Whites 80% 57%

Blacks 14% 17%

Hispanics 5% 21%

Other 1% 6%

Do you predict that American schools today are overall more, less, or equally

segregated than they were in 1970? How about than they were in 1990?


1968 2006

Whites 80% 57%

Blacks 14% 17%

Hispanics 5% 21%

Other 1% 6%

Pause and think:


10 of top 15 states not in South

10 of top 15 states not in South

Based on your readings for today and prior knowledge

from other sources, what do you think accounts for these

patterns?

Pause and think:

“The distinction between de jure and de facto segregation is actually much less clear than the courts have made it seem. Segregation resulted in part from political choices such as zoning rules, public agency mortgage guidelines, highway location decision, mass transit access, and above all from school district boundaries and the placement of schools.”

(Hochschild and Scovronick 2003: 37)

Two possible causes (or results?)

• Residential segregation patterns

• Court cases and judicial decisions at the state and federal level

How segregated were American schools in the past, and how segregated are they today, especially in urban areas? What explains these patterns?

Residential Segregation Patterns

Residential Segregation Patterns in NYC and LA—A Longitudinal View:

Social Explorer: NYC 1910-2000 (African-American population)

NYC 1910-2000 (White population)

LA 1940-2000

Explore 2010 data on your own, thanks to the NYTimes Data Graphics team. Use the zoomable maps to look at any level from

your own zip code to the US as a whole: http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?hp

Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation in Boston, 2000

The Boston Foundation Indicators Project

The Boston Foundation Indicators Project

Key State and FederalJudicial Decisions

School Segregation: Key Court Cases

Roberts v. Boston (1850)

Massachusetts Supreme Court

Decided: Segregated schools in Boston were legal



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)

US Supreme Court

Decided: 14th Amendment permitted “separate but equal” public accommodations:

“Laws permitting, and even requiring their separation [of races]… do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other…”



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)

NAACP-led court cases

(1920s-1950s)

State and federal courts: local, district, appelate, supreme

Challenged equality of segregated black hospitals, schools (esp. higher ed), salary structures, other public services, as compared to white counterparts

Deliberate strategy to get inequality (in practice, not in theory) of segregated accommodations established in legal precedents



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)

9th Circuit Court of Appeals (led by Earl Warren)

Holds that segregated Mexican-American schools in CA are unconstitutional

Paves way for legislative desegregation of all schools, including black, Mexican-American, and white schools

Mendez v. Westminster

(1947)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)

US Supreme Court

BROWN 1:“Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group...Any language in contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” (Unanimous decision, written by Earl Warren)


(1947)

Brown v. Board of

Education 1 and 2 (1954,

1955)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)

US Supreme Court

BROWN 2:“[T]he courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance with our May 17, 1954, ruling...Once such a start has been made, the courts may find that additional time is necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner...”

Schools/districts must begin working towards integrating “with all deliberate speed.”


(1947)

Brown v. Board of


1955)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)

The Coleman Report (1966)

“[V]ariations in the facilities and curriculums of the schools account for relatively little variation in pupil achievement.”

“[I]t appears that a pupil’s achievement is strongly related to the educational background and aspirations of the other students in the school.”

(Included in your course pack)


(1947)

Brown v. Board of


1955)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)

Brown v. Board of Education 1

and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-

Mecklenburg Board of Ed

(1971)

US Supreme Court

Permits busing specifically to achieve district-wide integration



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

US Supreme Court

Education is not a fundamental right guaranteed by the US Constitution

San Antonio ISD v.

Rodriguez (1973)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

US Supreme Court

5-4 decision forbids the imposition of mandatory cross-district busing from Detroit to the suburbs

San Antonio ISD v. Rodriguez

(1973)

Milliken v. Bradley (1974)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

US Supreme Court

Allows states and districts to be ordered to provide additional educational services and resources to make up for segregated schools that cannot be desegregated given district boundaries and school attendance patterns


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

State and federal courts, including US Supreme Court

US Supreme Court allows return to neighborhood schools (1991), elimination of desegregation efforts even if integration hasn’t been achieved (1992), prioritization of local control over desegregation (1995)

Dozens of districts released from court oversight and desegregation orders.

Current school segregation patterns judged to be de facto results of demographic factors rather than direct results of past de jure segregation.


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)

Districts win release from

court-ordered desegregation

(1990s)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

State courts

• Litigation based on right to education guaranteed by state constitutions

• Focused on school financing rather than desegregation• Adequacy vs. equity arguments• Big wins in NJ, TX, NY and elsewhere.


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)



(1990s)

State-level litigation strategy (2000s)



Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)

US Supreme Court

Rules that voluntary desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville, KY, are unconstitutional because they take students’ race into account in determining school assignments.


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)



(1990s)

State-level litigation strategy

(2000s)

Parents Involved v.

Seattle (2006)

Which court case(s) most advanced the goal of

integrating schools in the long-run? Why?

Pause and think:


Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)



(1990s)


(2000s)

Parents Involved v.

Seattle (2006)

Which court case(s) most harmed the goal of

integrating schools in the long-run? Why?

Pause and think:


Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896)


(1920s-1950s)


(1947)


and 2 (1954, 1955)

Swann v. Charlotte-


(1971)


(1973)


Milliken II (1977)



(1990s)


(2000s)

Parents Involved v.

Seattle (2006)

Multiple characteristics of school segregation

Looking beyond just race and ethnicity, how segregated are

American schools today?

What relationships exist between school segregation, on the one

hand, and educational quality and equality, on the other?

Nield and Balfanz (2006)

Philadelphia, data from 1999

Magnet schools

Vocational schools

Nield and Balfanz (2006)

Philadelphia, data from 1999

Characteristics of schools serving a high concentration of poor, non-white students:

Lankford et al., Table 6

Pause and think:

What connections exist between school segregation,

structural factors, teacher quality, and student success? How might these interactions

impact our work as urban educators?

School Segregation and the Drop-out Crisis:

Evidence from Balfanz and Legters (2004)

Balfanz and Legters (2004)

Balfanz and Legters (2004)

NYC High Schools that are >90% minority with a <30% on-time graduation rate:

Segregation and the Dropout Crisis: A Summary

• Race is highly significant in predicting who is likely to attend a “drop out factory”

“Nearly half of our nation’s African American students, nearly 40% of Latino students, and only 11% of white students attend high schools in which graduation is not the norm.”

“A majority minority high school is five times more likely to have weak promoting power (promote 50% or fewer freshmen to senior status on time) than a majority white school.”

Segregation and the Dropout Crisis: A Summary

• Race is highly significant in predicting who is likely to attend a “drop out factory”

• Poverty “appears to be the key correlate of high schools with weak promoting power”“Majority-minority high schools with more resources (e.g., selective programs, higher per pupil expenditures, suburban location) successfully promote students to senior status at the same rate as majority white schools.”

“Segregation by race and ethnicity is almost always related to seriously unequal opportunities for all races, including whites, and it should be minimized.” (Orfield and Lee, 2006)

Pause and think:

Based on the quotation below, the information in this presentation, and your own

personal experience, do you believe that in order to achieve educational equity, we

should spend significant money, time, and political capital to reduce school segregation

in the US? Why or why not?

Sources:http://www.countdowntokindergarten.org/files/zonemaps.pdf

Boston Public Schools Budget. http://boston.k12.ma.us/bps/toc.asp. Accessed July 3, 2008.

Cambridge Public School District – CPS Budget Information. http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/school_budget.cfm. Accessed July 3, 2008.

The Boston Foundation (2008). “Indicators Project.” http://www.tbf.org/indicators/civic-health/indicators.asp?fID=209&fname=Race/Ethnicity&id=955

Orfield, Gary and Chungmei Lee (2006). Racial Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation. Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/deseg/Racial_Transformation.pdf.

Orfield, Gary (2009). Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge. Los Angeles, CA: The Civil Rights Project. http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/reviving-the-goal-of-an-integrated-society-a-21st-century-challenge/orfield-reviving-the-goal-mlk-2009.pdf

Balfanz, Robert and Nettie Legters (2004). “Locating the Dropout Crisis.” Baltimore: Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University. June 2004. www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report70.pdf.

Lankford, Hamilton, Susanna Loeb, and James Wyckoff (2002). “Teacher Sorting and the Plight of Urban Schools: A Descriptive Analysis.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 24(1): 37-62.

Nield, Ruth Curran and Robert Balfanz (2006). “An Extreme Degree of Difficulty: The Educational Demographics of Urban Neighborhood High Schools.” Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 11(2): 123–141.

See you in class!

e-lecture #1: segregation and desegregation in american schools

Documents

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school segregation

american schools

american schoolage population

majority white

plurality white

white population la