Synopses & Reviews
The biggest success of school desegregation plans has been the almost universal belief that racial discrimination is immoral and the commitment on the part of school districts to promoting and maintaining racial diversity in the schools. However, mandatory reassignment plans and plans with racial quotas have had serious costs--white flight and protest voting--and limited benefits--the racial gap in achievement was not reduced by school desegregation nor was there a significant improvement in race relations in school districts with desegregation plans. The authors of this book take a critical perspective on school desegregation policies and suggest compensatory funding and school choice as the solution to the problems of racial separation and the achievement gap.
Synopsis
Leading scholars in the fields of history and law have assembled an enormous amount of empirical data on the outcomes of school desegregation and conclude that the policies of the past--mandatory reassignment and strict racial quotas--had too few benefits and too many costs to make them viable alternatives for the future. Chapter topics include the history of school desegregation, the development of the law, the desegregation effectiveness of remedies, ability grouping and classroom desegregation, racial disparities in school discipline, intergroup relations, the attitudes and opinions of adults in desegregated school districts, and the outlook for the future.
The authors conclude that one of the biggest successes of school desegregation is that there is almost universal acceptance of the principle that racial discrimination is immoral. But school desegregation has had some important failures as well, most importantly, the failure to improve the academic achievement of black students and race relations between black and white students in desegregated schools. There have also been some serious costs--white flight and protest voting--associated with forced busing and the use of strict racial quotas. The concluding chapter argues that the solution to racial disparities in achievement, and to racial separation, lies in compensatory education for low achieving, poor children and school choice programs that do not use racial criteria but provide financial assistance to low-income families.
Synopsis
The biggest success of school desegregation plans has been the almost universal belief that racial discrimination is immoral and the commitment on the part of school districts to promoting and maintaining racial diversity in the schools. However, mandatory reassignment plans and plans with racial quotas have had serious costs--white flight and protest voting--and limited benefits--the racial gap in achievement was not reduced by school desegregation nor was there a significant improvement in race relations in school districts with desegregation plans. The authors of this book take a critical perspective on school desegregation policies and suggest compensatory funding and school choice as the solution to the problems of racial separation and the achievement gap.
Synopsis
Analyzes the history and law of school desegregation, including its benefits and costs over the last half decade, and suggests future policy likely to have a better cost-benefit ratio.
About the Author
CHRISTINE H. ROSSELL is Professor, Political Science Deptartment, Boston University.DAVID J. ARMOR is Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University.HERBERT J. WALBERG is University Scholar and Emeritus Research Professor of Education and Psychology, University of Illinois, Chicago.
Table of Contents
Assessing the Promise of Brown by Christine Rossell, David Armor, and Herbert Walberg
History of Desegregation by Jeffrey Raffel
Legal Issues in School Desegregation by Alfred Lindseth
The Effectiveness of Desegregation Plans by Christine Rossell
School Desegregation and Demographic Change by William Clark
Desegregation and Academic Achievement by David Armor
Ability Grouping and Classroom Desegregation by Christine Rossell
Racial Disparities in School Discipline by Charles Achilles
Improving Intergroup Relations in the Schools by Walter Stephan
Attitudes on Race and Desegregation by Christine Rossell and David Armor
The Outlook for School Desegregation by Christine Rossell, David Armor, and Herbert Walberg