Excerpt: Racial Desegregation: Magnet Schools, Vouchers, Privatization, and Home Schooling

Meeks, Loretta F., Wendell A. Meeks, and Claudia A. Warren. [2000] 2005. "Racial Desegregation: Magnet Schools, Vouchers, Privatization, and Home Schooling". Pp. 297-303 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.

The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education was that "separate but equal is inherently unequal", and rendered illegal racial segregation. What it did not do was prescribe means to implement desegregation and phase out segregation: "Some see this as synonymous with legalizing freedom but not abolishing slavery".

Current demographics illustrate the rising population of minority groups in relation to the majority, tendency of inner-city public schools to be mostly minority students, rising per-capita cost of public education, and declining scores in standardized measures of achievement.

The Supreme Court has made no ruling in desegregation cases in the past 10 years (as of 2000, it may be 20 years now). Patterns have emerged of "white flight" from schools with high minority populations to those of low. And with court-ordered desegregation policies and plans expiring, many white middle-class parents are indulging in other educational options.

The first option is Magnet Schools, which advertise rigorous and challenging coursework tailored to the ideals of the population that will control them. Parents and teachers are allowed to discuss curricula and devise courses based on their interests, not broad public curricula. This tends to lead to desegregation where there are sizable minority and white populations, but have had little effect in cities where whites have fled to the suburbs.

Vouchers provide public monies to pay or offset the cost of education, be it public or private, religious or secular. Ideally, parents, who are believed to be a child's best teacher, would select schools based on their levels of academic success and not racial or socioeconomic makeup. In reality (as shown through several studies of the voucher system), the opposite is the case, with parents basing their school selection using racial and socioeconomic makeup as the primary factor in their decision.

Privatization and charter schools emerged in response to "the nation's perception of the high cost and inefficiency of government and a renewed interest in private-market values". Whether these are successful has yet to be determined.

Home schooling is the perhaps the oldest form of schooling, but is being renewed as a legitimate option to education. However, "Duffy (1980) reports that the typical home schooling family is White and Protestant with two parents, three children, and above-average income and education". For urban parents with traditionally below-average income and education (and often non-white), home schooling is simply not an option. The authors note that home schooling affects very few people, but if it becomes more popular then a larger portion of whites will opt out of the public school system.

The article provides a detailed glimpse into the effects of certain alternatives to traditional public schooling. It's interesting to see the options and how ineffective they are with regards to desegregation, but the underlying reasons for this social reluctance are not explained.

Relevance: 3/5 (neutral)
Salience: 3/5 (neutral)

References:

• Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). - as a cause.
  
• Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 294 (1955). - as a cause.
  
• Myrdal, G. 1944. An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. New York: Harper. - as a cause.
• Orlich, D.C. 1991. "Brown v. Board of Education: Time for a Reassessment". Phi Delta Kappan 72:631-632. - cited in agreement.
  
• Stringfield, S. 1997. "Research on Effective Instruction for At-Risk Students: Implications for the St. Lousi Public Schools". Journal of Negro Education 66:258-288. - cited in agreement.
  
• Russo, C.J. J.J. Harris III, and R.F. Sandidge. 1994. "Brown v. Board of Education at 40: A Legal History of Equal Opportunities in American Public Education". Journal of Negro Education 63:297-309. - as an example.
  
• Brown, F., and R.C. Hunter. 1995. "Introduction Privatization of Public School Services". Education and Urban Society 27(2):107-113. - cited in agreement.
  
• Glenn, C.L. 1988. "Public School Choice: Searching for Direction". Principal 77(5):10-12. - cited in agreement.
  
• Archbald, D. 1996. "SES and Demographic Predictors of Magnet School Enrollment". Journal of Research and Development in Education 29(3):152-162. - as an example.
• Orfield, G., and S.E. Eaton. 1996. Dismantling desegregation: The Quiet Reversal of Brown v. Board of Education. New York: The New Press. - as an example.
  
• Dejnozka, E.L., and D.E. Kapel. 1991. American Educators' Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood. -as an example.
• Metz, M.H. 1986. Different by Design: The Context and Character of Three Magnet Schools. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul. - as an example.
  
• Steel, L., and R.H. Levine. 1994. Educational Innovation in Multiracial Contexts: The Growth of Magnet Schools in American Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. - as an example.
  
• Steel, L., and M. Eaton. 1996. Reducing, Eliminating, and Preventing Minority Isolation in American Schools: The Impact of the Magnet School Assistance Program. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. - as an example.
  
• Lewin, N. 1999. Are Vouchers Constitutional?. Policy Review 93:5-8. - as an example.
  
• Witte, J.F., T.D. Sterr, and C.A. Thorn. 1995. Fifth Year Report: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Madison, WI: Department of Political Science and the Robert M. LaFollette Institute of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison. - as an example.
  
• Goldhaber, D.D. 1997. "School Choice as Education Reform". Phi Delta Kappan 79:143-147. - as an example.
  
• Rose, L.C. and A.M. Gallup. 1998. "The 30th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes toward the Public Schools". Phi Delta Kappan 80:41-56. - as an example.
• Murphy, J. 1996. "Why Privatization Signals a Sea of Change in Schooling". Education Leadership 54:60-62. - as an example.
  
• Duffy, J. 1998. "Homeschooling: A Controversial Alternative". Principal 77:23-46. - as an example.
  
• Dahm, L. 1996. "Education at Home with Help from School". Educational Leadership 54:68-71. - as an example.
  
• Gorder, C. 1996. Home Schools: An Alternative. Mesa, AZ: Blue Bird Publishing. - as a nexample.
  
• Mayberry, M., J. Knowles, B.B. Ray, and S. Marlow. 1995. Home Schooling: Parents as Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. - as an example.
  
• Ramirez, A. 1998. "Vouchers and Voodoo Economics". Educational Leadership 56:36-39. - as a nexample.