you been reading the series in the n&o? interesting. i'm focused on writing more on educational issues this year.

as for the topic, the real issue is neighborhood segregation, as has been pointed out. the issues under that are economic disparities, as well as growth/zoning issues. diversity is a laudable goal, but the question is "at what cost?".

black kids having to ride the bus at 6am in the morning (as some do in my neighborhood) to go ethnically enrich some super-suburban school is ridiculous. it puts the kids at a disadvantage, from participation in afterschool activities, if they have jobs, etc.

plus, the white flight never stops because of the growth/zoning issues. if developers keep moving further and further away from the cities, and they are not charged for the additional infrastructure that they make necessary (which will add cost to the homes and on some levels disincent people from a mass exodus), the 'burbs will continue to expand.

the schools aren't consulted or considered in the housing growth and then after the fact, they have to build new schools to fit all of these folks who showed up in the middle of nowhere. then someone notices that the new schools are not diverse, and they make up for it by busing kids from the black (don't know if they do this to latinos yet, but that will be an issue soon).

what's even more insulting is the concept behind "magnet" schools, where they make this wonderful curriculum with all types of special stuff to it to attract white kids back to predominantly black/latino (minority makes no sense in this context) schools. would they make all that special stuff just for the benefit of the black/latino kids if they were there by themselves? nope. and from some teachers i've talked to (in the magnet schools) they are still segregated, with mostly white kids in the advanced or enriched classes (plus a couple bright local kids who catch extra hell from their peers), and the majority of the 'base population' in regular classes or special ed. what purpose does that serve?

the issues are mad complicated and i think that people get confused with busing and integration which was a means, not necessarily an end of the civil rights movement (our leaders got it twisted too, so you can't just blame the gubmint). the original problem was that separate and equal was separate and unequal, and still is. if there are available populations and the remedy does not place too much hardship on the kids being bused, (maybe a 30 min ride, tops), then hooray for diversity. but we're ignoring the deeper realities if we think that the schools, with their limited resources, can overcome deeply ingrained economic and housing segregation patterns via infinite busing.


peace & blessings,

x.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

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I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad