Needed: A New Educational Civil Rights Movement

Abstract

Let us hope, Mr. Clinchy says, that we are not in for another century of continued educational injustice before we set the record straight and achieve a just, fair, and equitable system. NOW THAT the great American post-World War II civil rights movement in education has apparently run its course and appears to be moving backwards, it is time to launch a new educational civil rights movement. Or at least it's time to take the old one in a new and more comprehensive direction for the 21st century. I think we might all agree that the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education was the single greatest recognition in the 20th century that the parents and children of this country really do have educational rights. In that sense, it was the high-water mark of that century's educational civil rights movement. The Brown decision made two vitally important points. The first was that the of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities and other 'tangible' factors may be equal. The second and equally important finding was that where a state has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on terms.1 Not Wholly a Success Following the Brown decision and subsequent court decisions, this country embarked on the long effort to desegregate all our public schools and provide all American children of every racial and ethnic group with those equal educational opportunities. But if we look at what has happened since 1954, we can see all too clearly that that movement has turned out to be only a qualified success. While legal segregation has ended in this country and Southern school districts can no longer run officially segregated schools, many school districts - especially inner-city districts in both the North and the South - are at least as segregated as they were in 1954. Indeed, many districts, such as those in Boston, Chicago, New York, and other major cities, are more segregated.2 What's more, both federal and state courts are now moving toward declaring that many of our formerly segregated districts have made good faith - if unsuccessful - efforts to desegregate and are therefore legally unified and relieved of any further duty to integrate their schools. These same courts are also declaring that race-based admissions policies are unconstitutional and that districts may now return to the policy of racially identifiable neighborhood schools, the very policy that had originally caused the de facto segregation of schools in the North. In addition, we are experiencing an increase in economic segregation throughout our system of public education. Those inner-city schools that house most of our minority children also house large concentrations of our poor children. What's more, the nation's rural schools serve disproportionately large numbers of just plain poor (though mainly nonminority) children. And all of these schools are still very clearly victims of Jonathan Kozol's savage inequalities. While suburban school districts may spend $12,000 to $15,000 on every student, city and rural school districts are fortunate if they can raise $7,000, a situation that puts every state in the union except Hawaii in violation of the Brown ruling that required states to provide public education on terms to all children and young people. Urban students and their teachers are all too often housed in ancient, crumbling buildings. Their schools are all too often staffed by poorly trained and underpaid teachers. Classes can be as large as 40 to 45 students and are supplied with ancient materials and little or no modern electronic equipment. At the same time, there is an inadequate array of community support services to assist the many children and young people and their families who live lives of extreme poverty. …