Make the court ruling work FOR us

[SoCalDem]

Apparently wealth is now the determinant factor in school assignment, so if RACE is O.U.T., then our congress needs to GET BUSY and fulfill the aim of Brown v Board.

EQUALITY IN SCHOOLS..

Republicans know how to tweak rulings, and pick the bones to extract every juicy morsel that THEY like, while discarding the rest.

WE need to start doing the same.

"Settled law" is nothing of the sort..no matter how many times the well-groomed replibot says he/she supports that vague definition. They say it over and over until they are safely ensconced in the brier patch, and then they set out to unravel "settled law" and RE-settle it in THEIR favor.

Brown basically said that black children deserved a quality education, so the ONLY way to approach modern schooling to to assure that ALL schools get EQUAL money..

Wealthy people of ALL colors can (and do) move away from "blight". They leave their poorer brethren in the dust, and now have closed one of the last doors left open a wee bit.

"Magnet" schools and "private" schools have always been about exclusion.

We simply HAVE to start thinking like republicans if we ever plan to accomplish anything .

Making good schools unavailable to poor kids is just a clever way to make it all but impossible for many of them to break the chains of poverty.

if you cannot take the kids to the schools, then you have to take the schools to the kids.

For every NEW school or remodel in a non-poor area, a similar school of similar quality and staffing should be built in poorer areas as well.. Sooner or later, the old run down ones would be a thing of the past.

Sounds like separate, but equal? perhaps..BUT what we have now is separate, unavailable and unequal. How long should a child have to wait?

[depakid]

1. Seperate but equal...

Congress could probably require local school districts to fund education equally in all communities via "incentives" and enforced similarly to what's done with Title IX.

See, e.g.: http://www.american.edu/sadker/titleix.htm

[SoCalDem]

2. Republicans have been trying to do away with Title 9 too

They truly want "market-based" schooling..not public education.

If we look away too long, they will get it :(

[BlooInBloo]

8. I'll be fucking damned. You're serious.

[Bitwit1234]

3. Correct. Funding should only be about size.

Each school district should get funding according to the size of the enrollment. Nothing else should apply. But then schools in the inter city would get the most money. How would the racist screw that.

[Solo_in_MD]

11. You will need some kind of cost of living adjustment

Schools in Maine cost more to operate than schools in Alabama
Schools in San Diego cost more to build than schools in Kansas
Teacher pay varies tremendously across states and regions
Age of buildings vary tremendously so do related maintenance costs

You need to factor those kinds of things in too

[blondeatlast]

4. A set amount per pupil plus a flat amount per year to cover transfers, perhaps.

Local control over how it is spent.

I like this idea.

[Wildewolfe]

5. I may have a simplistic view on this,

... but wasn't the court decision based on white kids being denied application to schools outside of their normal area due to racial quotas?

If so, the simple solution is to assist poor and minority families and children in applying en masse to these same schools. If the reverse racial preference is shown post ruling then wouldn't the ruling itself provide the basis for relief?

[SoCalDem]

6. the problem with magnets..

They build them in NEW/upscale areas that usually skew quite "light" in color. They set aside a certain number of spots for "out of area" students, but they have to use some sort of qualifier, so since the base student body is likely to be white, they often used race as a factor to fill those remaining (and sought after) spots.

[Wildewolfe]

9. Ok, really going to show my ignorance here I guess...

...what is a magnet in this context?

[SoCalDem]

10. Magnet schools where WE live are public schools , but catering

to a sliver of the educational pie.. and limited in space.. They often have looser "rules" regarding staffing, and getting in is often done via lottery for X number of spots..with the final spots "saved" for other designations.. (i.e. handicapped, racial mix,

Here's the site for ONE of our magnet schools.. who wouldn;t want their kid to go here?

http://www2.mvusd.k12.ca.us/schools/es/North_Ridge_Web/index.htm

North Ridge Elementary
A NASA Explorer School

25101 Kalmia Avenue
Moreno Valley, CA 92557
Phone Number: [phone]
Fax Number: [phone]







Running the Road to Success
Schools Out
STUDENTS RETURN on August 15
Have a Safe and Restful Summer



horizontal rule






The vision for North Ridge Magnet School is to work cooperatively with staff, students, parents and community to provide a safe, positive environment recognizing the uniqueness of all. Our commitment is to provide a challenging curriculum emphasizing Math, Science and Technology, while encouraging continuous learning and developing responsible citizens.

“Mr. Knapp and Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria celebrate North Ridge becoming a NASA Explorer School.”


......................................

and here is Edgemont (the poor part of town)

Special Announcement

Thank you to Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley for donating 800 backpacks to Edgemont Elementary School. Our students all appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity.



Thank you to Discovery Christian Church for donating care packages to each classroom filled with school supplies. Our students and staff appreciate your kindness and caring.



Thank you to Lord of Life Lutheran Church for donating clothing and uniforms for students in need. We thank you for your continued support of Edgemont families.

[mondo joe]

12. I went to a magnet school with an arts curriculum. I wish there

were more of them around.

[BlooInBloo]

7. Yah - White folks have such a GRAND history of promoting equality. For example:

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/black_high_school_students_louisiana_threatened_lynching

" In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a "whites only" shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn't sit beneath the tree. The school said they didn't care where students sat. The next day, students arrived at school to see three nooses (in school colors) hanging from the tree....

The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena's black population didn't take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could "end their life with a stroke of the pen."

Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran away.) Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles...."


And then, to top it all off:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/26/america/NA-GEN-US-Racial-School-Fight.php

"JENA, Louisiana: An all-white jury was seated Tuesday to hear the case against the first of the "Jena Six" — a group of black youths accused of beating a white fellow student amid racial discord at a Louisiana school."

[mmonk]

13. .