Forty Years in the Courts

For forty years the courts in Philadelphia have been tied up diagnosing what can be done to insure all children receive the same opportunity for a quality education. The court has spoken. By decree the district will be able to move teachers from high performing schools to low performing schools. Somehow teachers have been blamed for students in racially isolated schools not receiving an equal opportunity for education.

Race was largely behind this movement 40 years ago as it should have been, but our district is not the same as it was then. Neither are the causes of poor performance. Research clearly indicates low performance today is more of a socio-economic issue than a race one.

The population of the city is 48% White and roughly the same population Black, yet Black students in our public schools outnumber White ones by considerably more than three to one. Court ordered bussing created white flight, perhaps proof that courts can’t manage schools.

I have been in the same school for eleven years. The families and the neighborhood know me. It helps me be a more effective teacher. Do you think the courts know that? Forty years ago their decision created racially isolated schools and cities we see today. Now they have issued a decision which in my opinion, makes the teaching profession much less attractive.

Is it any wonder a city which had its school district taken over by the state is having its policies dictated by the courts? The real question is: Is there room for common sense, is there room to implement policies which work for the children in the School District of Philadelphia, or will we have to wait forty years for another out of date resolution?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20090709_Phila__schools_agree_to_settle_1970_desgregation_suit.html

http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/091534/desegregation-case-over-or-has-hard-part-just-begun