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The Strange History of School Desegregation by
Robert Lowe. from Rethinking Schools Online (spring 2004) http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/18_03/stra183.shtml
One of the points that Lowe makes is that some of the desegregation strategies currently favored by most segregated
school districts (e.g., "school choice" plans with magnet programs) actually benefit whites at the expense of blacks.
Although
the Supreme Court, in its 1954 Brown decisions ruled that all-black schools are inherently inferior to all-white schools,
there were some excellent all-black schools.
At the time of the 1954 Brown decision, it has been
estimated that per-pupil funding for black schools was about 60% of what white schools received. And a substantial funding
gap persisted until the US Supreme Court's decision in Green v. Kent County Schools, which forced school districts to desegregate
"root and branch."
In my opinion, the black-white learning gap in the Minneapolis Public Schools is a reflection of
the quality of education to which students have access. The current Minnesota Desegregation Rule allows racially segregated
facilities in Minneapolis so long as the educational inputs in "racially identifiable" schools are comparable to schools
that are not 'racially identifiable.' A School is 'racially identifiable' if the proportion of students of color is more than
20% above the district average in grade levels served.
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