The closing and re-segregation of our schools
As we move as a society towards total and complete re-segregation in our schools and as colleges and universities becomes less and less accessible to all but the wealthy, the Supremes are about to roll back even more of the gains of the '60s Civil Rights Movement. This week, they are preparing to stamp out the last vestiges of affirmative action at the post-secondary level. Here's the way Justice Roberts is framing the case: "How much diversity was enough."
Chicago's Mayor Emanuel runs what is by most accounts, the most racially segregated school system in the nation. His so-called reform plan centers on the closing of hundreds of more schools in black and Latino neighborhoods. Up until now, the arbitrary closing of schools and their replacement with privately-run charters has been a function of neighborhood gentrification. It has also be driven by a federal school de-funding approach dictated by Arne Duncan's Race To The Top,which demands that school districts close "low-performing" schools in order to receive federal funds. By "low-performing" he means schools
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| Ald. Ricardo Munoz opposing school closings. |
Chicago's Mayor Emanuel runs what is by most accounts, the most racially segregated school system in the nation. His so-called reform plan centers on the closing of hundreds of more schools in black and Latino neighborhoods. Up until now, the arbitrary closing of schools and their replacement with privately-run charters has been a function of neighborhood gentrification. It has also be driven by a federal school de-funding approach dictated by Arne Duncan's Race To The Top,which demands that school districts close "low-performing" schools in order to receive federal funds. By "low-performing" he means schools