Doug Mann LPN, LNC

The Strange History of School Segregation














Home | Consumer Information | Resume | Education advocacy | Writings | Links | Nursing | Nursing Homes | French & Spanish | Modern Greek | Mann for School Board in 2008





The Strange History of School Segregation
















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. 
















Re: Minneapolis Public Schools, board candidates, and the 2006 elections