When the Norfolk, VA, school board voted to end mandatory busing to achieve racial integration, questions on the following issues were raised: (1) civil rights; (2) the property-based school tax system; and (3) impact on educational quality. (LHW)

In 1954, in the "Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka" decision, the United States Supreme Court declared that "to separate [black children] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in…

Despite contrary nationwide sentiment, Louisville has proved that metropolitan-area-wide busing can work. (Author)

Discusses the background and implications of a court decision resulting in the resegregation of public schools in metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee, because of declining enrollment. Speculates whether the events indicate a trend back to the concept of neighborhood schools and an end to busing to achieve desegregation. (AOS)

This report examines the desegregation of students, teachers, and administrators in the Fayette County (Kentucky) Public Schools for the 1986-87 school year. It is based on counts of students and professional personnel made in September 1986. Findings show that racial polarization is intensifying in the Fayette County schools. More blacks and…

School officials, civil rights advocates, and students and parents deserve praise for the success the Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools integration program has had in placing almost all schools within the enrollment guidelines for the 1986-87 school year for the first time since school desegregation began. Recommendations made for…

This book examines a long-running voluntary desegregation program in Boston as a model of the long-range benefits and present-day challenges of integrating America's schools. The book presents interviews with program participants who are now adults and recounts their struggles and achievements. It explores the ways in which the Metropolitan…

This paper describes how a predominantly white elementary school responded to a school-district reorganization effort to promote ethnic balance among the schools. The redistricting plan reassigned some former students to other schools and bused in many Spanish-speaking students. The school staff encountered language problems with the new students…

This report presents data from a 2001 telephone survey of registered voters that examined community attitudes and expectations regarding public education in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public school system (CMS). Respondents were committed to improving public schools and willing to increase taxes to achieve that goal. They expressed ambivalence…

The Brown v. Board of Education decision upheld a civil rights ideal that was based on the personal interests of the students; it made no requirement for a perfect racial balance in all classrooms throughout the offending school district. Yet the ensuing, forced desegregation plans that involved long-distance busing, and other measures based on…

The role of clergy in the successful desegregation of Dayton Schools from 1969-79 is described. Prior to a 1976 federal court order to begin busing, the clergy were unable to agree on desegregation issues. However, during the second phase of the controversy, they publicly endorsed peaceful implementation of busing. A conclusion is that the clergy…

This study of the reaction to forced busing in Boston (Massachusetts) that emerged in 1974 illustrates the persistence of race and class discrimination and the counterproductiveness of some imposed solutions. It is focused on white antibusing groups and the complexities of opposition to busing. Racism is essential to understanding the Boston…

This paper presents a set of new ideas which support the value of school desegregation in the United States. First, school desegregation efforts have been almost universally effective, no matter what implementation strategy was employed. Even busing, although widely criticized, has been effective. Second, desegregation efforts have usually…

In spite of almost 30 years of busing to achieve racial balance, there continues to be a significant gap between White and African American children in terms of school achievement, and African American students still score below national averages on achievement tests. As the city of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) considers whether to reduce or maintain…

Focusing on the experience of Seattle (Washington), this paper attempts to determine why school districts across the country have recently sought to de-emphasize segregation. Concerns about the validity of pursuing integration, particularly through busing, have been present throughout the history of school desegregation, but only recently is there…