School assignment in Boston and New York City came to national attention in the 1970s as courts across the country tried to integrate schools. Today, district-wide choice allows Boston and New York students to enroll far from home, perhaps enhancing integration. Urban school transportation is increasingly costly, however, and has unclear…

School assignment in Boston and New York City came to national attention in the 1970s as courts across the country tried to integrate schools. Today, district-wide choice allows Boston and New York students to enroll far from home. Although 1970s desegregation efforts likely benefited minority students, urban school transportation is increasingly…

Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to ameliorate these imbalances and disparities. A longstanding Massachusetts program, METCO, buses K-12 students of color from…

This is the policy brief for the discussion paper, "Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York." While choice systems offer students in segregated neighborhoods access to schools that may be more integrated and of higher quality, does busing lead to improved academic performance as measured by higher test scores…

Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to ameliorate these imbalances and disparities. A longstanding Massachusetts program, METCO, buses K-12 students of color from…

In 1974, the federal court in Boston ordered busing and a massive effort to accelerate the pace of academic progress in the Boston schools. Included in the order was the creation of twenty-two magnet schools and an unprecedented level of parent participation with the vehicles to make it possible. (JOW)

Data from a survey of Boston resldents support the solidarity theorists' argument that social cohesion increases protest. The Boston data, however, also support the breakdown theorists' hypothesis that discontented individuals are more likely to protest than others. Finally, the data undercut the breakdown theorists' hypothesis that…

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Reviews two books on the influence of school desegregation on students, "The Other Boston Busing Story: What's Won and Lost across the Boundary Line" (Susan Eaton) and "Finding One's Place: Teaching Styles and Peer Relations in Diverse Classrooms" (Stephan Plank). Both books describe students' reactions to desegregated…

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…

This essay explores the ethnic dimensions of Boston's school desegregation crisis in three ways: it analyzes the busing crisis in terms of Boston's peculiar mix of history, culture, and politics; it suggests an analytical distinction between ethnic conflict and racism; and it evaluates the busing crisis from the perspective of ethnicity in…

Concepts and methods of geography are applied to the study of school desegregation in this paper. Beginning with a spatial/temporal view of desegregation, the key legal events which have charted the course of desegregation are reviewed, and geographic patterns over time are examined. This discussion is followed by an investigation of the…

This book contains reports on ten school districts' responses to court ordered desegregation. The book begins with an historical background and a discussion of racial politics and community conflict. Following the introduction are the ten case studies, whose titles reveal the city and issues under examination: (1) "Boston, Massachusetts:…

This book is based on the personal accounts of individuals and families involved in different ways in the busing for school integration experience in Boston, Massachusetts. The individuals who speak are both black and white, and include administrators, parents, students, teachers and residents of the city and suburbs. Their stories reflect their…

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…