Federal Court Strikes Down Classroom-Based School Segregation
A principal at a Dallas elementary school must stop assigning students to classrooms based on race, according to a recent federal court decision. The segregated classroom assignments, which grouped white students in classrooms away from students of other races, was done in part because of presure from PTA president Meg Bittner, who argued that racially segregated classrooms would entice more white parents to send their children to public schools. According to one school teacher "the people who live in the Preston Hollow neighborhood, who are the majority being white, would want their children grouped together."
Speaking through Judge Sam Lindsay, the court held that this segregated assignment plan "was, in effect, operating, at taxpayer's expense, a private school for Anglo children within a public school that was predominantly minority," adding that "[t]he court is baffled that in this day and age, that [the district relied] on what is, essentially, a 'separate but equal' argument." Judge Lindsay enjoined the principal against continuing the racially segregated assignments, and required her to pay $20,200 in damages to the named plaintiff.
This decision arises in the shadow of two forthcoming Supreme Court cases which will decide whether the Constitution denies local school districts the authority to voluntarily integrate racially segregated schools. In these cases, two school boards, concerned that their districts were too segregated, enacted voluntary plans to integrate their schools. The plaintiffs in these cases are asking the Supreme Court to hold that the Constitution forbids public schools from choosing to racially integrate absent a court order.
Recent studies suggest that American public schools have become increasing segregated in the last several decades. According to one Harvard study, school integration peeked in 1988, it has declined in every year since then, and is now at its lowest point since 1968. Another study of public schools in San Francisco found that those schools maintain classroom segregation by "tracking" students based on race. While around 5% of Latinos and 4% of black students classified as gifted or enrolled in advanced placement courses in 1999, 23% of whites were placed in more rigorous classrooms.
(hat tip: Atrios)
Written By:JR On January 7, 2007 11:00 AM Written By:Donald Soles On April 5, 2008 6:36 PM
My son was racially targeted for bullying over two years in the Brandywine School District in DE. After two years of us complaining, the district decided he would not be allowed to attend certain classes and he could not use the public restrooms. How is this not segregation? I can't afford a lawyer to sue now that I have been forced to pay tuition in order to assure my son an equal education.
"was done in part because of presure from PTA president Meg Bittner, who argued that racially segregated classrooms would entice more white parents to send their children to public schools" This quote attributed to Meg Bittner is incorrect. Ms. Bittenr never said this, and it will not and can not be found in the court transcripts. It is a total fabrication and taken out of context from Judge Lindsay's ruling by Atrios.