A Desegregation Tool That Backfired: Magnet Schools and Classroom Segregation

Abstract

Magnet schools-schools offering a special curriculum and capable of attracting students of different racial backgrounds-are often touted as one of the most effective desegregation tools available. How often racial segregation occurs within such schools, however, is rarely discussed. In a successfully school, we expect to see children of various races and ethnicities learning together in the same classroom. Yet, many supposedly magnet schools operate racially segregated classrooms.' By definition, it is paradoxical to attach the label desegregated to a magnet school that operates segregated classrooms. Nevertheless, the commonly accepted definition of desegregation permits a magnet school with racially segregated classrooms to be deemed desegregated. This Note argues that courts assessing the desegregation effectiveness of magnet schools should evaluate the desegregation of classrooms as well as buildings. Part I, after describing magnet schools and their role in the desegregation of school systems, presents support for the claim that many magnet schools are rife with racially segregated classrooms. Racial segregation within partial-site2 magnet schools is particularly damaging to the minority students who constitute the nonmagnet portion of the school, because it labels them as inferior to the white transfer students who constitute the bulk of the magnet students within the school. Part H explains how the methods developed by academics to evaluate desegregation plans have made it possible for magnet schools to operate separate classrooms for minority and white students, yet still be considered schools. Part III describes constitutional prohibitions against racial segregation within magnet schools, but notes that federal funding programs for desegregation-oriented magnet schools do not explicitly require the Department of Education to consider how the magnet program will affect classroom racial composition. Part IV discusses the