The fight for equal educational opportunity in New York has followed a pattern similar to other diverse or racially transforming states. From the 1950s to 1980s, the issue of school desegregation was an important issue. Local civil rights pressure, the courts, and legislation attempted to desegregate large urban school systems through both…

Background/Context: The issue of how to achieve a racially diverse student population has become increasingly challenging since a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court split decision endorsed the importance of creating diverse schools, while simultaneously limiting the assignment to public schools based on an individual student's race or ethnicity. The article…

THE MAJOR PROBLEM OF THIS PREPARATORY RESEARCH PROGRAM WAS TO ASCERTAIN THE FEASIBILITY OF MAKING A FULL-SCALE STUDY OF THE DYNAMICS OF SCHOOL INTEGRATION CONTROVERSIES IN NEW YORK CITY. METHODS INVOLVED INTERVIEWING AND OBSERVING LEADERS AT CITYWIDE AND NEIGHBORHOOD LEVELS, INCLUDING SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS, TEACHERS, PARENT…

This collection of case studies on school desegregation in nine American communities (Kalamazoo, Michigan; Newark, Delaware; Riverside and Los Angeles, California; Savannah, Georgia; River City and Bayon County, Mississippi; Chicago, Illinois; and, Hempstead, New York.) summarizes and interprets the struggles to solve this domestic social problem.…

IN WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, A SUBURBAN CITY WITH A PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OF 8,700, 17 PERCENT NEGRO, MEASURES WERE TAKEN TO INSURE RACIAL BALANCE THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. IN THE PAST THE CITY HAD INITIATED VARIOUS TEMPORARY SCHOOL DESEGREGATION ACTIONS, BUT BY 1964 THE NECESSITY OF A PERMANENT SOLUTION HAD BECOME APPARENT. SINCE AT THE HIGH…

Political efforts to desegregate schools fail when political opposition interacts with an institutional structure that ambiguously divides educational authority. Both factors explain failure of Yonkers, New York, to desegregate its schools during the 1960s and 1970s. This article cautions against abandoning school desegregation efforts and demands…

Based on a conference held in November 1982, this document attempts to distill and include those thoughts, arguments, and data judged to be most helpful in formulating a plan for improving and expanding voluntary interdistrict school integration in New York State. The first 3 sections describe trends over 30 years in the amount of segregation,…

This study reports on eight projects funded by the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) during 1977-1978 in seven districts in New Jersey and New York. The seven districts are described in terms of: (1) their demographic characteristics, such as racial/ethnic composition of the public schools, minority isolation, percentage of educationally or…

PLANS ARE UNDERWAY TO PROVIDE RACIAL BALANCE THROUGHOUT THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. OF THE APPROXIMATELY 31,000 CHILDREN ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOLS, 18 PERCENT ARE NONWHITE. WHEN AFTER THREE YEARS A WELL-RUN PROGRAM OF COMPENSATORY EDUCATION FAILED TO PRODUCE ANY MEASURABLE ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT AMONG STUDENTS AT THE THREE…

The failure of the Rochester School Board in March 1967 to adopt a comprehensive program of school desegregation surprised many observers. On February 1, 1967, Superintendent Goldberg broadcast four desegregation plans to the public, and on March 16, 1967 the school board voted three to two against all four desegregation plans and adopted instead…

WHITE PLAINS'S PLAN FOR RACIAL BALANCE IN THE SCHOOLS WAS FORMULATED IN RESPONSE TO A BOARD OF EDUCATION RULING THAT ALL CITY SCHOOLS MAINTAIN A MINIMUM NEGRO ENROLLMENT OF 10 PERCENT AND THAT NO SCHOOL BE MORE THAN 30 PERCENT NEGRO. BY SEPTEMBER 1964 ATTENDANCE LINES WERE REDRAWN FOR THE CITY'S 10 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, AND 20 PERCENT OF ALL…

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…

An Institute funded under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was held during 1968-69 in order to concentrate on the attitudes of the administrative leadership of the schools involved in a busing program. The purpose of the Institute was to initiate and evaluate action programs to facilitate the implementation of the School System's…

Discusses the barriers to the success of the Yonkers (New York) public school district's desegregation plan. Provides a profile of the district and an explanation of its governance. Presents the plan for desegregation and discusses the financial obstacles to its implementation. Discusses the need for additional aid and assistance. (JS)