Equal Employment Opportunity Consciousness Among Arkansas Public School Districts

Abstract

The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 changed the focus of civil rights enforcement efforts from the intent of actors to the results of their actions. In the area of employment, Title VII of the 1964 Act, along with subsequent legislation, Executive Orders, implementing regulations and court decisions, mandates that traditional approaches to the overall hiring and promotion process be re-evaluated to insure that personnel procedures do not negatively impact on the employment chances of an individual because of his/her race, sex, religion, national origin, age or physical handicap. The Federal effort (in some cases bolstered and extended by state and local law) to generate and enforce guidelines for equal employment opportunity and affirmative action has been among the most maligned governmental programs of this century. Although hampered by misconceptions, informed disapproval and bureaucratic ineptitude, as of 1982, equal employment opportunity (EEO) is the law of the land. This paper explores the extent of EEO compliance in one aspect of the hiring process, the employment application form. Application forms for teaching positions were collected from school districts throughout the state of Arkansas. These forms were then reviewed to ascertain the extent of EEO consciousness and compliance in each district. Prior to discussing the findings of this study, a brief review of Federal equal employment opportunity guidelines is presented to acquaint the reader with the basis for judgments made later in the paper.