Purpose: Layered with myriad considerations, school closure and rezoning processes in urban school systems are politically fraught with the potential for damaging consequences. This article explores the politics and impacts of a closure and rezoning process in Richmond, Virginia, through the lens of themes applicable to urban school systems and…

Background: This article examines the contemporary implications of the "Milliken v. Bradley" (1974) decision for educational inequality between school districts in U.S. metropolitan areas. We focus upon four metropolitan areas that were highly segregated in the 1970s but which met different fates in court: We first examine Detroit and…

Redistricting, the redrawing of electoral district boundaries to reflect the latest population counts, occurs for most electoral districts after each decennial census. While normally a topic of concern mainly to politicians and politicos, redistricting can alter the opportunities for representation and policy alternatives. For a number of reasons,…

Social scientists offer competing theories on what explains the policymaking process. These typically include economic rationalism, political competition or power struggles, and policy imitation of the kind that diffuses across spatially proximate neighbors. In this paper, we examine the factors that have influenced a recent local policy trend in…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to follow 1 principal's journey to assist the district in its reconfiguration goals, and help the school change through deep examination of district personnel's and parents' perceptions of the change process. This was done by acknowledging distinctions and differences between junior…

This study outlines the processes used by University of Wisconsin--Extension, Lincoln County (UWELC), educators over an eight-year period to facilitate the development of a county land use plan and to guide committees through a review of the new proposed county zoning ordinances based on that plan. As a partner in these projects, UWELC helped…

The editors of Design and Environment invited readers to submit entries to a new Awards for Excellence in Environmental Design Program. This capsule report reviews the winning projects. (BT)

Author presents a case-study showing how Delaware Extension Service launched an effort to reach the goal of better planned communities through making land-use controls become guidelines for zoning ordinances. He discusses how segments of the community were approached and the positive results of fifteen years of work. (Editor/LF)

Discusses implications of major reforms in secondary school zoning in New Zealand, highlighting freedom and equity considerations. Zoning's primary aim has changed from balancing out different schools' declared needs to emphasizing parents' rights. The new zoning provisions involve both a strong role for freedom and a weak role for equity. (72…

Traces the interrelationships among dependence, environmental degradation, and human health in the Rio Grande Valley of Mexico and Texas. Presents a case study on environmental factors threatening family health in households located on both sides of the border; the health problems can be overcome by addressing restrictive zoning, health services,…

PUBLISHED IN 1963, THIS JOURNAL IS MADE UP OF ARTICLES ON SCHOOL DESEGREGATION AND EXCERPTS FROM THE HISTORIC 1961 SUPREME COURT DECISION TO DESEGREGATE THE NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THE ARTICLES ARE--(1) MAX WOLFF, "THE ISSUES IN INTEGRATION," (2) KENNETH B. CLARK, "SEGREGATED SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK CITY," (3) DAN…

Although some comparisons among three diverse cities were made, the three cities were selected precisely because they represented diverse clusters of urban problems. San Jose, California, was the scene of very rapid growth for more than a decade. St. Louis, Missouri, on the other hand, contained the prototypical problems of a declining central…

This review surveys literature previously announced in RIE and CIJE pertaining to site selection for elementary and secondary schools. Many of the documents cited identify typical site standards and discuss their relationship to site selection techniques. Other documents describe methods for predicting land costs, establishing attendance areas,…

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE EDUCATION WHICH ENABLES CHILDREN TO ADJUST NORMALLY TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. THIS CANNOT BE DONE IN A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT IS RACIALLY IMBALANCED. THE MINNEAPOLIS HUMAN RELATIONS TASK FORCE FEELS THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MUST NOT WAIT FOR A SOUND COMMUNITY BUT MUST TAKE POSITIVE STEPS TO…

This book presents case studies describing the role of the courts and legislation in seven school desegregation cases. In addition to the studies of individual litigation, there are essays on the role of the professional educator in desegregation cases and the plaintiff client counsel relationship. A historical review of the desegregation of the…