Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, January 1, 2015

A National Survey of School Desegregation Orders

A National Survey of School Desegregation Orders:



A National Survey of School Desegregation Orders

Across the United States, some school districts are bound by orders to increase the racial integration of black and Latino students and improve their educational opportunities. Some of the orders are mandated by federal courts. Others resulted from voluntary agreements between school districts or other educational institutions and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Over the last 15 years, many orders have been lifted. This has left many communities uncertain of whether orders still exist and hobbled efforts to ensure they are being followed. The map and tables below are the most comprehensive record of these orders, including never-before-released data on ongoing voluntary desegregation agreements from the Department of Education. Related Story: School Segregation, the Continuing Tragedy of Ferguson »

Number of Districts with Currently Open Desegregation Orders

Click on a state to see how many school districts are under orders there.
045+
21425111338510182846748536117211443982331911734610652283112112Number of Open Voluntary Orders'54555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091011121314Number of Open Court OrdersYear
How to use this data: If a district is under a voluntary order with the Department of Education, you can request a copy of the order from the agency. If a district is under a court order, those records can sometimes be obtained from the school district itself or from the federal courts, though the recording keeping on court-ordered desegregation is in considerable disarray. ProPublica has also compiled a limited number of these records.
Voluntary Desegregation Orders
Court Desegregation Orders
District NameStateYear Entered
Adams County 14Colorado2010
Adams County 14Colorado2014
Addison School Dist 4Illinois2013
Adler School Of Professional PsychologyIllinois2012
Albany City School DistrictNew York2013
Ames Community School DistrictIowa2004
Anderson CoKentucky2014
Anderson County School District 05South Carolina2013
Ansonia Board Of EducationConnecticut2010
Antioch UnifiedCalifornia2011
Antioch UnifiedCalifornia2013
Argosy UniversityCalifornia2013
Arizona Depart Of EducationArizona2012
Arlington IsdTexas2012
Atlanta Christian CollegeGeorgia2011
Aurora East Unit School Dist 131Illinois2013
Aurora East Unit School Dist 131Illinois2013
Aurora Public School DistrictColorado2008
Avondale Elementary DistrictArizona2004
Avondale Elementary DistrictArizona2013
Baker UniversityKansas2010
Baldwin-Whitehall SdPennsylvania2013
Basis Dc PcsDistrict of Columbia2013
Beaufort County School DistrictSouth Carolina2010
BelmontMassachusetts2012
Bennington Public SchoolsOklahoma2013
Berlin Board Of EducationConnecticut2012
Bessemer City Sch DistAlabama2013
Bill Ireland Youth Development CenterGeorgia2009
Boces Questar IiiNew York2014
Boces St Lawrence-LewisNew York2014
Boces SullivanNew York2014
Boston PsMassachusetts2010
Boston PsMassachusetts2012
Boulder Valley Re 2Colorado2013
Bridgeport Board Of EducationConnecticut2012
Brookfield Local SdOhio2013
Brookfield Local SdOhio2010
Broward County School DistrictFlorida2012
Bryan CountyGeorgia2013
Burlington Re-6JColorado2014
Calvert County Public SchoolsMaryland2012
Caney Valley U.S.D. #436Kansas2009
Capital City Public Charter SchoolDistrict of Columbia2013
Carnegie Mellon UniversityPennsylvania2008
Cartwright Elementary DistrictArizona2013
Cartwright Elementary DistrictArizona2005
Cassopolis Public SchoolsMichigan2011
Castro Valley UnifiedCalifornia2013
Catawba County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Centinela Valley Union HighCalifornia2012
Central Arizona CollegeArizona2012
Central Falls Sch DistRhode Island2011
Cesar Chavez AcademyMichigan2012
Chabot CollegeCalifornia2011
Chase County U.S.D. #284Kansas2014
Chgo. City Colleges-Community College District 50Illinois2012
ChicopeeMassachusetts2013
Christian County SchoolsKentucky2014
Christian Theological SeminaryIndiana2014
Christina School DistrictDelaware2012
Cicero School District 99Illinois1999
Clarkson CollegeNebraska2006
Clarksville-Montgomery CountyTennessee2012
Clay County School DistrictFlorida2011
Cleveland Metropolitan School DistrictOhio2011
Cleveland Metropolitan School DistrictOhio2014
Clifton School DistrictNew Jersey2012
Coachella Valley UnifiedCalifornia2013
Collegiate AcademiesLouisiana2014
Colonial School DistrictDelaware2014
Colorado Technical UniversityMissouri2011
Columbia College ChicagoIllinois2014
Columbus Municipal School DistrictMississippi2011
Columbus Preparatory AcademyOhio2011
Conecuh County Sch DistAlabama2010
Confluence AcademiesMissouri2014
Corona-Norco UnifiedCalifornia2013
Ct Dept EdConnecticut2009
Cuny Hunter CollegeNew York2013
Cupertino Union ElementaryCalifornia2013
Davenport Comm School DistrictIowa2012
De Soto U.S.D. #232Kansas2009
Dearborn City School DistrictMichigan2012
Dekalb CountyGeorgia2012
Dekalb CountyGeorgia2013
DequeenArkansas2012
Des Moines Independent Community School DistriIowa1998
Desoto Parish School BoardLouisiana2013
Dorchester County 02South Carolina2013
Douglas County School District Re 1Colorado2012
Douglas County School District Re 1Colorado2012
Dover Public SchoolsOklahoma2012
Duke UniversityNorth Carolina2011
Duval County School DistrictFlorida2013
East Baton Rouge Parish School BoardLouisiana2013
East Haven Board Of EducationConnecticut2011
East Otero R-1Colorado2006
East Providence Sch DistRhode Island2010
Echols CountyGeorgia2012
Elko County SdNevada2013
Estelline School District #28-2South Dakota2013
Fairfield Board Of EducationConnecticut2013
Faulkner State Community CollegeAlabama2014
Florence Unified School DistrictArizona2007
Florida Statewide Education SyFlorida1998
Franklin County SchoolsNorth Carolina2011
Franklin-Mckinley ElementaryCalifornia2009
Garden City U.S.D. #457Kansas1996
Gaston County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Gaston County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Gill-MontagueMassachusetts2012
Glendale Elementary DistrictArizona2000
Glynn CountyGeorgia2013
Grand Haven Area Public SchoolsMichigan2013
Grand Rapids Public SchoolsMichigan2014
Grant County School DistrictKentucky2013
Grant County School DistrictKentucky2013
Greeley School District 6Colorado2010
Guam Department Of EducationGuam2007
Guymon Public SchoolsOklahoma2008
Hagerman Municipal SchoolsNew Mexico2007
Hamtramck Public SchoolsMichigan2010
Hanover Community School CorpIndiana2013
Harding County 31-1South Dakota2011
Hartford Board Of EducationConnecticut2013
HaverhillMassachusetts2006
Hazleton Area SdPennsylvania2014
Hazleton Area SdPennsylvania2014
Henderson County School DistrictKentucky1998
Henry CountyGeorgia2013
Henry CountyGeorgia2014
Hickman Mills C-1 School DistrictMissouri2013
Hill City School District #51-2South Dakota2006
Hofstra UniversityNew York2013
HopeArkansas2012
Horizon Science Acad ColumbusOhio2013
Humble IsdTexas2013
Huntsville City Sch DistAlabama2013
Hutchinson Public Schools U.S.D. #308Kansas2012
Indiana State UniversityIndiana2012
Iowa City Comm School DistrictIowa2013
J S Morton H S District 201Illinois1998
Jamestown CollegeNorth Dakota2014
Jefferson County School District R-1Colorado2013
Kansas City U.S.D. #500Kansas2011
Kansas City U.S.D. #500Kansas2011
Kansas City U.S.D. #500Kansas2011
Kansas State UniversityKansas2014
Kemp IsdTexas2010
Knox County School DistrictTennessee2010
Kyrene School District #28Arizona2011
Lake Stevens Sd No. 4Washington2009
LawrenceMassachusetts2006
Lebanon R-Iii School DistrictMissouri2009
Lebanon SdPennsylvania2011
Lee County Sch DistAlabama2013
Leon County School DistrictFlorida2011
Lincoln Elem School Dist 156Illinois2010
Lincoln Parish School BoardLouisiana2013
Lincoln UnifiedCalifornia2013
Logan School DistrictUtah2014
Lone Grove Public SchoolsOklahoma2008
Los Angeles UnifiedCalifornia2013
Los Angeles UnifiedCalifornia2008
Los Angeles UnifiedCalifornia2013
Los Angeles UnifiedCalifornia2011
LynnMassachusetts2013
LynnMassachusetts2013
LynnMassachusetts2013
LynnMassachusetts2014
M S D Pike TownshipIndiana2012
Macomb IsdMichigan2011
Madison CoKentucky2012
Madison-Plains Local SdOhio2009
Manatee County School DistrictFlorida2013
ManchesterNew Hampshire2014
Mapleton 1Colorado2012
Maplewood Career CenterOhio2012
Maries County R-I School DistrictMissouri2009
Maries County R-I School DistrictMissouri2009
Marion CountyGeorgia2011
Marion County School DistrictFlorida2013
Marygrove CollegeMichigan2010
Maryland Higher Education CommMaryland2000
Memphis City School DistrictTennessee2012
Merritt CollegeCalifornia2010
Metro Nashville Public SchoolsTennessee2013
Metro Nashville Public SchoolsTennessee2011
Metropolitan Community CollegeMissouri2011
Midland UniversityNebraska2011
Minneapolis Public Schools-School District #1Minnesota2013
Minneapolis Public Schools-School District #1Minnesota2013
Minneapolis Public Schools-School District #1Minnesota2010
Mo Dept Of Elementary And Secondary EducationMissouri2010
Monterey Peninsula UnifiedCalifornia2014
Montgomery County Sch DistAlabama2012
Moore County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Msad 16 HallowellMaine2008
Mt. Diablo UnifiedCalifornia2014
Murphy Elementary DistrictArizona2012
Muscogee CountyGeorgia2013
Neoga Comm Unit School Dist 3Illinois2011
Neosho R-V School DistrictMissouri2000
New London Board Of EducationConnecticut2012
New Mexico Children Youth & FamiliesNew Mexico2008
New Richmond Ex Vill SdOhio2011
Newberry County School DistrictSouth Carolina2010
Norfolk Public SchoolsVirginia2012
Norman Public SchoolsOklahoma2009
Northern Valley Regional High School DistrictNew Jersey2013
Oakland UnifiedCalifornia2013
Oakland UnifiedCalifornia2012
Oklahoma City Public SchoolsOklahoma2012
Oklahoma State Regents Of Higher EducationOklahoma2009
Olentangy Local SdOhio2012
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BocesNew York2014
Opelika City Sch DistAlabama2013
OwatonnaMinnesota2011
Painesville City Local SdOhio2009
Papillion-La Vista Public SchoolsNebraska2011
Paradise Valley Unified DistrictArizona2001
Parlier UnifiedCalifornia2008
Pasadena UnifiedCalifornia2012
Pasadena UnifiedCalifornia2012
Pasadena UnifiedCalifornia2014
Pasadena UnifiedCalifornia2012
Pasadena UnifiedCalifornia2011
Paterson School DistrictNew Jersey2011
Pattonville R-Iii School DistrictMissouri2009
Pattonville R-Iii School DistrictMissouri2009
Pemiscot County R-Iii School DistrictMissouri2008
Pennsylvania Higher Ed SystemPennsylvania1999
Philadelphia SdPennsylvania2012
Pitt County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Plainfield Board Of EducationNew Jersey2011
Plainfield School Dist 202Illinois2012
Platte County R-Iii School DistrictMissouri2011
PlattevilleWisconsin2013
Polytech School DistrictDelaware2014
Poplar Bluff R-I School DistrictMissouri2010
Poplar Bluff R-I School DistrictMissouri2010
Portland Public SchoolsMaine2013
Posen-Robbins El Sch Dist 143-5Illinois2013
Providence Sch DistRhode Island2011
Pueblo School District 70Colorado2007
Putnam County School DistrictFlorida2012
Rapid City Area School District #51-4South Dakota2011
Raymond Sch DistNew Hampshire2011
Red WingMinnesota2010
Redding Board Of EducationConnecticut2010
Regional School District 15Connecticut2012
Regional School District 19Connecticut2012
RevereMassachusetts2011
Richardson IsdTexas2013
Richmond Heights Local SdOhio2011
Richmond Heights Local SdOhio2012
Richmond Heights Local SdOhio2012
Riverside Elementary DistrictArizona2007
Roaring Fork Re-1Colorado2005
Robeson County SchoolsNorth Carolina2013
Robeson County SchoolsNorth Carolina2013
Rockwood R-Vi School DistrictMissouri2013
Roosevelt Elementary DistrictArizona2000
Rowan-Salisbury SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Sacramento City UnifiedCalifornia2014
Sahuarita Unified DistrictArizona2002
San Francisco State UniversityCalifornia2014
Santa Ana UnifiedCalifornia2014
Santa Clara UnifiedCalifornia2013
Santa Fe Public SchoolsNew Mexico2004
Santa Maria-Bonita ElementaryCalifornia2012
Sauk Rapids Public School District 47Minnesota2012
Schenectady City School DistrictNew York2003
Schenectady City School DistrictNew York2013
Scotland Board Of EducationConnecticut2011
Scottsdale Unified DistrictArizona2009
Shawnee Mission Public Schools U.S.D. #512Kansas2010
Snoqualmie Valley Sd No. 410Washington2014
Snowflake Unified DistrictArizona2005
South Haven Public SchoolsMichigan2011
South Sioux City Community SchoolsNebraska1997
Southwest Baptist UniversityMissouri2009
SpringfieldMassachusetts2013
SpringfieldMassachusetts2008
SpringfieldMassachusetts2006
SpringfieldMassachusetts2010
Springfield SdVermont2012
St Vrain Valley School District Re 1JColorado2010
St. Cloud Area School District 742Minnesota2011
State Fair Community CollegeMissouri2009
Stony Creek Joint UnifiedCalifornia2014
Stroud Public SchoolsOklahoma2013
Sun Prairie AreaWisconsin2013
Sylvania City SdOhio2006
Syracuse City School DistrictNew York2013
Tabor CollegeKansas2014
Tahlequah Public SchoolsOklahoma2010
Tallapoosa County Sch DistAlabama2011
Tallapoosa County Sch DistAlabama2011
Temecula Valley UnifiedCalifornia2013
Texas Higher Ed DesegregationTexas2000
The National College Of Business And TechnologyTennessee2013
Tigard-Tualatin Sd 23JOregon2014
Toledo City School DistrictOhio2012
Tolleson Union High School DistrictArizona2012
Topeka Public Schools U.S.D. #501Kansas2012
Traverse City Area Public SchoolsMichigan2012
Truman State UniversityMissouri2012
Tucson Unified DistrictArizona2011
Tucson Unified DistrictArizona2013
Tucson Unified DistrictArizona1996
Tulsa Public SchoolsOklahoma2010
Tulsa Public SchoolsOklahoma2013
Union Public SchoolsOklahoma2010
University Of California-San DiegoCalifornia2012
Vestal Central School DistrictNew York2012
Wallingford Board Of EducationConnecticut2013
Warrensburg R-Vi School DistrictMissouri2012
Washington Elementary School DistrictArizona2011
Wayne Public SchoolsOklahoma2013
Waynesboro Area SdPennsylvania2012
Waynesboro City Public SchoolsVirginia2012
Weakley County School DistrictTennessee2013
West Contra Costa UnifiedCalifornia2012
West Geauga Local SdOhio2012
Westchester Community CollegeNew York2012
White Plains Public SchoolsNew York2013
Wilkes-Barre Area SdPennsylvania2012
Wilson County SchoolsNorth Carolina2012
Windham Board Of EducationConnecticut2006
WorcesterMassachusetts2013
Yuma School District 1Arizona2013
District NameStateYear Placed
Aberdeen School DistMississippi1969
Alabaster CityAlabama1963
AlamoTennessee1966
Alexandria City Pblc SchsVirginiaN/A
Allendale 01South Carolina1968
Amite Co School DistMississippi1969
Anniston CityAlabama1963
Appling CountyGeorgia1969
Arlington Co Pblc SchsVirginia1957
Asheville City SchoolsNorth Carolina1965
Attala Co School DistMississippi1970
Augusta Co Pblc SchsVirginia1966
Avoyelles ParishLouisiana1967
Baltimore City Public SchoolsMaryland1976
Baltimore County Public SchoolsMaryland1973
Barnwell 19South Carolina1970
Barnwell 45South Carolina1969
Barrow CountyGeorgia1969
BayFlorida1966
Benton Co School DistMississippi1970
Bienville ParishLouisiana1966
Bossier ParishLouisiana1965
BradfordFlorida1970
Brookhaven School DistMississippi1969
Brunswick Co Pblc SchsVirginia1969
Bryan CountyGeorgia1969
Buckingham Co Pblc SchsVirginia1961
Buffalo IsdTexas1970
Buncombe County SchoolsNorth Carolina1965
Caddo ParishLouisiana1966
Cahokia Cusd 187Illinois1961
Calcasieu ParishLouisiana1968
Calhoun CountyAlabama1963
Calhoun CountyGeorgia1969
Calvert IsdTexas1970
Camden CountyGeorgia1969
Canton Public School DistMississippi1965
Cape Henlopen School DistrictDelaware1957
Capital School DistrictDelawareN/A
Carroll County School DistMississippi1965
Caswell County SchoolsNorth Carolina1958
Catahoula ParishLouisiana1966
Center 58Missouri1986
Chambers CountyAlabama1963
Charlottesville Cty Pblc SchsVirginia1957
Chesterfield 01South Carolina1969
Choctaw Co School DistMississippi1970
Choctaw CountyAlabama1966
City Of Monroe School DistrictLouisiana1966
Claiborne ParishLouisiana1966
Clarendon 01South Carolina1962
Clarendon 03South Carolina1969
Clark County School DistrictNevada1972
Clarksdale Municipal School DistMississippi1969
Clay CountyAlabama1963
Cleburne CountyAlabama1963
Cleveland School DistMississippi1976
Clinch CountyGeorgia1969
Clinton Public School DistMississippi1967
Coahoma County School DistrictMississippi1970
Colbert CountyAlabama1963
Colmesneil IsdTexas1970
Colquitt CountyGeorgia1971
Columbia CountyGeorgia1969
Columbia School DistrictMississippi1969
Concordia ParishLouisiana1966
Copiah Co School DistMississippi1970
Covington Co SchoolsMississippi1969
Coweta CountyGeorgia1969
Crisp CountyGeorgia1968
Cullman CountyAlabama1963
Daingerfield-Lone Star IsdTexas1970
Danville City Pblc SchsVirginiaN/A
Decatur CityAlabama1963
Desoto ParishLouisiana1966
District Of Columbia Public SchoolsDistrict of Columbia1954
Dodge CountyGeorgia1969
Dollarway School DistrictArkansas1959
Dooly CountyGeorgia1969
Dorchester 02South Carolina1968
Dorchester 04South Carolina1969
Dougherty CountyGeorgia1963
Durant Public School DistMississippi1965
DyersburgTennessee1966
Early CountyGeorgia1969
East Feliciana ParishLouisiana1965
Edenton/Chowan SchoolsNorth Carolina1968
El Centro ElementaryCalifornia1955
El Dorado School DistrictArkansas1965
El Paso IsdTexas1971
Elysian Fields IsdTexas1970
Emanuel CountyGeorgia1969
Emmet*IdahoN/A
England School DistrictArkansas1971
Englewood CityNew Jersey1964
Englewood On The Palisade CharterNew JerseyN/A
Erie City SdPennsylvaniaN/A
Fairfax Co Pblc SchsVirginia1964
Fairfield CityAlabama1965
Fairfield IsdTexas1970
Fayette CountyAlabama1963
Fayette CountyKentucky1965
Fayette CountyTennessee1972
FlaglerFlorida1970
Florence 01South Carolina1970
Florence CityAlabama1963
Forrest City School DistrictArkansas1970
Forrest County School DistrictMississippi1965
Fort Payne CityAlabama1963
Fort Wayne Community SchoolsIndiana1990
FranklinTennessee1971
Franklin Co School DistMississippi1969
Franklin CountyAlabama1963
Franklin CountyTennessee1964
Franklin County SchoolsNorth Carolina1966
GadsdenFlorida1970
Garland IsdTexasN/A
Georgetown 01South Carolina1969
Georgetown IsdTexas1964
Glascock CountyGeorgia1969
Glynn CountyGeorgia1963
Goodrich IsdTexas1970
Grapeland IsdTexas1976
Greenwood Public School DistrictMississippi1969
Halifax County SchoolsNorth Carolina1964
Hanover Co Pblc SchsVirginia1966
Hardeman CountyTennessee1969
Harnett County SchoolsNorth Carolina1965
Harnett Early Childhood*North Carolina1965
Haywood CountyTennessee1967
HazelwoodMissouri1975
HendryFlorida1970
Hermitage School DistrictArkansas1969
Hollandale School DistMississippi1971
Holly Springs School DistMississippi1969
Holmes Co School DistMississippi1965
Homewood CityAlabama1965
Hoover CityAlabama1966
Huntsville CityAlabama1966
Indian RiverFloridaN/A
Indian River School DistrictDelaware1957
Indianapolis Public SchoolsIndiana1972
Irwin CountyGeorgia1969
JacksonFloridaN/A
Jackson CountyAlabama1963
Jackson ParishLouisiana1966
Jacksonville CityAlabama1963
Jeff Davis CountyGeorgia1969
JeffersonFloridaN/A
Jefferson CountyAlabama1965
Jones Co School DistMississippi1970
Junction City School DistrictArkansas1966
Kalamazoo Public SchoolsMichigan1971
Kemper Co School DistMississippi1969
Kosciusko School DistrictMississippi1970
Lafourche ParishLouisiana1967
Lake Forest School DistrictDelaware1957
Lake Ridge SchoolsIndiana1963
Lamar CountyAlabama1963
Lanett CityAlabama1963
Lansing Public School DistrictMichigan1973
Lasalle ParishLouisiana1966
Lauderdale Co School DistMississippi1969
Lauderdale CountyAlabama1963
Laurel School DistrictMississippi1970
Lawrence Co School DistMississippi1969
Lawrence CountyAlabama1977
Leake Co School DistMississippi1969
LebanonTennessee1970
Leeds CityAlabama1963
Lenoir County Public SchoolsNorth CarolinaN/A
Lexington 04South Carolina1966
Limestone CountyAlabama1963
Lincoln Co School DistMississippi1969
Lincoln CountyGeorgia1968
Lincoln ParishLouisiana1966
Longview IsdTexas1965
Los Angeles UnifiedCalifornia1976
Louisville Municipal School DistMississippi1966
Lovelady IsdTexas1977
Lynchburg City Pblc SchsVirginia1962
Madison CountyAlabama1964
Madison Cusd 12Illinois1969
Madisonville CisdTexasN/A
Malakoff IsdTexas1970
ManateeFlorida1969
Manhasset Union Free School DistrictNew York1964
Marion Co School DistMississippi1969
Marion CountyAlabama1963
Marshall CountyAlabama1963
Mcduffie CountyGeorgia1969
Meridian Public School DistMississippi1969
MilanTennessee1970
Milford School DistrictDelaware1957
Milwaukee School DistrictWisconsin1976
Minneapolis Public School Dist.Minnesota1972
Mitchell CountyGeorgia1969
Monroe CountyGeorgia1969
MontclairNew JerseyN/A
Montgomery Co School DistMississippi1967
Montgomery CountyGeorgia1969
Montgomery County SchoolsNorth Carolina1956
Morgan CountyAlabama1963
N. Little Rock School DistrictArkansas1969
Natchitoches ParishLouisiana1970
Neptune TownshipNew Jersey1967
Neshoba County School DistrictMississippi1969
Nettleton School DistMississippi1969
New Haven School DistrictConnecticut1965
New Rochelle City School DistrictNew York1961
New York City Public SchoolsNew York1973
Newberry 01South CarolinaN/A
Newport News City Pblc SchsVirginia1957
Newton CountyGeorgia1969
North Bolivar School DistrictMississippi1983
North Pike School DistMississippi1969
North Tippah School DistMississippi1968
Norwalk School DistrictConnecticut1968
Oakwood IsdTexas1970
Obion CountyTennessee1962
Oktibbeha County School DistrictMississippi1969
Oxford CityAlabama1966
Palo Alto UnifiedCalifornia1979
PascoFlorida1970
Peach CountyGeorgia1969
Pell CityAlabama1966
Person County SchoolsNorth CarolinaN/A
Pickens CountyAlabama1963
Piedmont CityAlabama1963
Pine Bluff School DistrictArkansas1970
Pittsburg UnifiedCalifornia1969
Plaquemines ParishLouisiana1969
Pointe Coupee ParishLouisiana1965
Poplarville Separate School DistMississippi1970
Powhatan Co Pblc SchsVirginia1963
Pulaski Co. Spec. School Dist.Arkansas1983
Pulaski CountyGeorgia1969
Quitman Co School DistMississippiN/A
Quitman School DistMississippi1994
Randolph CountyAlabama1963
Randolph CountyGeorgia1969
Rankin Co School DistMississippi1971
Richardson IsdTexas1966
Richland ParishLouisiana1966
Roanoke City Pblc SchsVirginia1962
Roanoke Co Pblc SchsVirginia1970
Russellville CityAlabama1963
Sabine ParishLouisiana1977
San Angelo IsdTexasN/A
San Bernardino City UnifiedCalifornia1974
San Juan DistrictUtah1994
Scott Co School DistMississippi1970
Scottsboro CityAlabama1963
Screven CountyGeorgia1968
Senatobia Municipal School DistMississippiN/A
Sequoia Union HighCalifornia1971
Sheffield CityAlabama1963
Shelby CountyAlabama1963
Shelby CountyKentucky1972
Simpson Co School DistMississippi1970
Smithville IsdTexas1970
So. Conway Co. School DistrictArkansas1972
South Bend Community Sch CorpIndiana1980
South Pike School DistMississippi1969
South Tippah School DistMississippi1967
SpringfieldMassachusetts1965
Springfield Sd 186Illinois1976
St Clair CountyAlabama1966
St. Helena ParishLouisiana1961
St. James ParishLouisiana1966
St. John The Baptist ParishLouisiana1966
St. JohnsFlorida1970
St. Landry ParishLouisiana1969
St. Martin ParishLouisiana1965
St. Mary ParishLouisiana1969
St. Mary'S County Public SchoolsMaryland1958
St. Tammany ParishLouisiana1966
Starkville School DistrictMississippiN/A
Strong-Huttig School DistrictArkansas1970
Suffolk City Pblc SchsVirginiaN/A
Sumter CountyAlabama1963
Sumter CountyGeorgia1969
Tangipahoa ParishLouisiana1968
Tarrant CityAlabama1963
Tate Co School DistMississippiN/A
Tattnall CountyGeorgia1969
Taylor CountyGeorgia1969
Telfair CountyGeorgia1969
Terrebonne ParishLouisiana1967
Trinidad IsdTexas1976
Trinity IsdTexas1973
Trussville CityAlabama1975
Tucson Unified DistrictArizona1976
Tunica County School DistrictMississippi1966
Tuscaloosa CountyAlabama1963
Tuscumbia CityAlabama1963
Tyler IsdTexas1970
Union Co School DistMississippi1970
Union ParishLouisiana1969
Union TownshipNew JerseyN/A
Uvalde CisdTexas1973
Valdosta CityGeorgia1970
Vidalia CityGeorgia1969
Walthall Co School DistMississippi1970
Warren CountyGeorgia1969
Warren County SchoolsNorth CarolinaN/A
Warren School DistrictArkansas1968
Washington CountyGeorgia1970
Washington ParishLouisiana1967
Waterbury School DistrictConnecticut1969
Watson Chapel School DistrictArkansas1971
Wayne Co School DistMississippi1970
Wayne CountyGeorgia1969
Webster Co School DistMississippi1970
Webster ParishLouisiana1974
Weldon City SchoolsNorth Carolina1964
West Baton Rouge ParishLouisiana1965
West Carroll ParishLouisiana1969
West Memphis School DistrictArkansas1965
West Point School DistMississippi1971
Western Line School DistrictMississippiN/A
Wheeler CountyGeorgia1969
Whitewright IsdTexas1970
Wilcox CountyGeorgia1969
Wilson CountyTennessee1970
Winfield CityAlabama1963
Worth CountyGeorgia1969
Yancey County SchoolsNorth Carolina1960
Yazoo City Municipal School DistMississippi1970
Yazoo Co School DistMississippi1969
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, Stanford University, ProPublica research.
Note: Based on data received from the U.S. Department of Education and may not include open agreements entered into prior to 1996. Some school districts may appear multiple times because they are under more than one order.

* This school district is defunct as of the 2011-2012 school year due to merger or closure.
A National Survey of School Desegregation Orders:

Exposing the charter school lie: Michelle Rhee, Louis C.K. and the year phony education reform revealed its true colors - Salon.com

Exposing the charter school lie: Michelle Rhee, Louis C.K. and the year phony education reform revealed its true colors - Salon.com:



Exposing the charter school lie: Michelle Rhee, Louis C.K. and the year phony education reform revealed its true colors

Charter schools promised new education innovations. Instead, they produced scam after new scam









Since it’s the time of the year when newspapers, websites and television talk shows scan their archives to pick the person, place or thing that sums up the year in entertainment, business, sports or every other venue, why not do that for education too?
In 2014 education news, lots of personalities came and went.
Michelle Rhee gave way to Campbell Brown as a torchbearer for “reform.” The comedian Louis C. K. had a turn at becoming an education wonk with his commentary on the Common Core standards. Numerous “Chiefs for Change” toppled from the ranks of chiefdom. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett went down in defeat due in part to his gutting of public schools, as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker remained resilient while spreading the cancerous voucher program from Milwaukee to the rest of the state.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio rose to turn back the failed education reforms of ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, only to have his populist agenda blocked by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who insisted on imposing policies favored by Wall Street. Progressives formed Democrats for Public Education to counter the neoliberal, big money clout of Democrats for Education Reform. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush emerged as rival voices in the ongoing debate about the Common Core among potential Republican presidential candidates.


But hogging the camera throughout the year was another notable character: charter school scandals.
In 2014, charter schools, which had always been marketed for a legendary ability to deliver promising new innovations for education, became known primarily for their ability to concoct innovative new scams.
From Local Stories to National Scandal
A story that appeared at Forbes in late 2013 foretold a lot of what would emerge in 2014. That post “Charter School Gravy Train Runs Express to Fat City” brought to light for the first time in a mainstream source the financial rewards that were being mined from charter schools. As author Addison Wiggin explained, a mixture of tax incentives, government programs and Wall Street investors eager to make money were coming together to deliver a charter school bonanza – especially if the charter operation could “escape scrutiny” behind the veil of being privately held or if the charter operation could mix its business in “with other ventures that have nothing to do with education.”
As 2014 began, more stories about charter schools scandals continued to drip out from local press outlets – a chain of charter schools teaching creationism, a charter school closing abruptly for mysterious reasons, a charter high school operating as a for-profit “basketball factory,” recruiting players from around the world while delivering a sub-par education.
Here and there, stories emerged: a charter school trying to open up inside the walls of a gated community while a closed one continued to get more than $2 million in taxpayer funds. Stories about charter operators being found guilty of embezzling thousands of taxpayer dollars turned into other stories about operators stealing even more thousands of dollars, which turned into even more stories about operators stealing over a million dollars.
While some charter schools schemed to steer huge percentages of their money away from instruction toward management salaries and property leases (to firms connected to the charter owners, of course), others worked the system to make sure fewer students with Exposing the charter school lie: Michelle Rhee, Louis C.K. and the year phony education reform revealed its true colors - Salon.com:

2014: The Greatest Year of Revolt Against High-Stakes Testing in US History | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

2014: The Greatest Year of Revolt Against High-Stakes Testing in US History | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community:



2014: The Greatest Year of Revolt Against High-Stakes Testing in US History

Top Ten Acts of Test Resistance This Year


For too long so-called education reformers, mostly billionaires, politicians, and others with little or no background in teaching, have gotten away with using standardized testing to punish our nation’s youth and educators. They have used these tests to deny students promotion or graduation, close schools, and fire teachers—all while deflecting attention away from the need to fund the services the would dramatically improve our schools.
The year 2014 marked the greatest year of revolt against high-stakes testing in U.S. history. Across the country, students are walking out, parents are opting their children out, and teachers are refusing to administer these detrimental exams—often taking great personal and professional risk to defy the corporate education reformers. The impact of this movement can be seen in the poll released in August 2014 by Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup, which found that 54 percent of the general public said standardized tests are not helpful–the rate for public school parents was even higher, at 68 percent. To gain a full appreciation of the size and scope of this mass rebellion, check out the “Testing Reform Victories Report” from Fair Test. To gain insight into to the motivations and strategies of the leaders in this movement, order the newly released book, More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing.
Here then are my picks for the top ten most powerful acts of resistance to high-stakes, standardize testing in 2014, listed in chronological order. I hope to add your action to my list next year!
Top Ten Test-defiers 2014
In what was perhaps the largest student walkout against high-stakes testing in U.S. history, hundreds of high schools students in Colorado staged a mass walk out in November refusing to take their 12th grade social studies and science tests. Overall, more than 5,000 Colorado 12th graders refused to take the tests.
Karen Hendren and Nikki Jones teach first grade at Skelly Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and sent a beautiful letter home in November with their students explaining to the parents why they would be refusing to administer any of the standardized tests. This brave act met with immediate scorn from the school district and these teachers will need all of our support as they struggle for their students and their own jobs.
Amidst the cheers of anti-testing activists, Florida’s Lee County school board became the first district in the state to vote to opt out of all state-mandated testing—despite the fact that the state could implement sanctions for refusing to administer the tests. Ultimately those high-stakes frightened the school board into resuming the testing, however, the dramatic action changed the political landscape in Florida and prompted the State Education Commissioner to call for an “investigation” of standardized testing in Florida’s public schools to increase transparency for parents about the use of assessments and standardized tests.
Most school districts across Washington state were forced by Secretary Arne Duncan’s selective enforcement of the No Child Left Behind Act to send letters to nearly all the parents in the state informing them that their child attended a failing school. On August 2014, 28 school superintendents from around the state authored a letter of their own, where they declared that their schools’ successes are not reflected in these ratings and criticized No Child Left Behind.
In July, the thousands of educator delegates to the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly voted to demand the resignation of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and launched “Toxic Testing” campaign that is raising awareness around the nation about the harmful effects of high-stakes testing.
The Providence Student Union has been one of the most organized and creative student groups in the nation in opposition to high-stakes testing. These students’ unrelenting 2014: The Greatest Year of Revolt Against High-Stakes Testing in US History | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community:

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Creating Healthy Minds With First Book | Randi Weingarten

Creating Healthy Minds With First Book | Randi Weingarten:



Creating Healthy Minds With First Book



I can't imagine my life without books. My father was an electrical engineer, and my mother was a public school teacher. Books were an integral part of my childhood. Throughout my career as a lawyer, teacher and labor leader, books have remained my constant companion -- stuffed into a briefcase, overflowing on my bedside table, stacked on my desk at work. Books have carried me to distant worlds, opened new doors and made me feel empathy, compassion, anger, fear, joy, acceptance -- and everything in between.
Forty-five percent of our nation's children live in neighborhoods that lack public libraries and stores that sell books, or in homes where books are an unaffordable or unfamiliar luxury. At the same time, two-thirds of the schools and programs in our nation's lowest-income neighborhoods can't afford to buy books at retail prices. That means that today, 32.4 million American children go without books -- even as study after study has shown that literacy is crucial to success in school, future earning potential and the ability to contribute to the nation's economy.
Nearly four years ago, the American Federation of Teachers joined forces with First Book -- a nonprofit social enterprise that has provided more than 120 million brand-new books to low-income children since 1992. Through First Book's unique marketplace, educators serving students in need buy books and educational resources at deeply reduced prices or receive them at no cost.
As one of First Book's biggest partners, we've put 2 million books in the hands of children in need, and we've helped First Book expand its marketplace of registered users from 20,000 to 150,000. AFT members have organized First Book truck events in communities across the country -- in this month alone, a total of 200,000 books have been given away at five events in Massachusetts, New York and Oregon.
However, our partnership with First Book is about more than just giving books to students in need. Our aim is to build on the empowerment that comes from owning that first book to create lifelong readers and lifelong learners.
A landmark study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows a correlation between the ability to read by the end of the third grade, continued academic success and the end of the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Yet with 82 percent of fourth-graders from Creating Healthy Minds With First Book | Randi Weingarten:

The education “shock doctrine” | International Socialist Review

The education “shock doctrine” | International Socialist Review:



The education “shock doctrine”

Disaster schooling



IN A January interview U.S. Secretary of education, Arne Duncan declared, “Let me be really honest. I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina. That education system was a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to say that ‘We have to do better.’” Yet if there is one particularly frightening example for the future of public education it lies in the aftermath of Katrina. The case of using the disaster as a way to push through the largest and quickest privatization scheme of any public school system ever attempted, was made widely known in Naomi Klein’s best-selling book The Shock Doctrine.
Three months after the hurricane hit, free-market fanatic Milton Friedman wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Most New Orleans schools are in ruins, as are the homes of the children who have attended them. The children are now scattered all over the country. This is a tragedy. It is also an opportunity to radically reform the educational system.” As Klein points out:
Friedman’s radical idea was that instead of spending a portion of the billions of dollars in reconstruction money on rebuilding and improving New Orleans’ existing public school system, the government should provide families with vouchers, which they could spend at private institutions, many run at a profit, that would be subsidized by the state. It was crucial, Friedman wrote, that this fundamental change not be a stopgap but rather “a permanent reform.”
A network of right wing think tanks seized on Friedman’s proposal and descended on the city after the storm. The administration of George W. Bush backed up their plans with tens of millions of dollars to convert New Orleans schools into “charter schools,” publicly funded institutions run by private entities according to their own rules….
In sharp contrast to the glacial pace with which the levees were repaired and the electricity grid brought back online, the auctioning-off of New Orleans’ school system took place with military speed and precision. Within 19 months, with most of the city’s poor residents still in exile, New Orleans’ public school system had been almost completely replaced by privately run charter schools. Before Hurricane Katrina, the school board had run 123 public schools; now it ran just 4. Before the storm, there had been 7 charter schools in the city; now there were 31. New Orleans teachers used to be represented by a strong union; now the union’s contract had been shredded and its forty-seven hundred members had all been fired. Some of the younger teachers were rehired by the charters, at reduced salaries; most were not.1
In fact one of the first state actions, taken only three weeks after the storm, was to fire all the unionized teachers, disband the school board and turn the schools over to a state receiver in Baton Rouge, removing community accountability and effectively breaking the United Teachers of New Orleans. Margaret Spelling, Bush’s secretary of education, poured $24 million into New Orleans, all of which The education “shock doctrine” | International Socialist Review:

Private Interests Coming to a Public School Near You - The Atlantic

Private Interests Coming to a Public School Near You - The Atlantic:



Private Interests Coming to a Public School Near You

Government agencies are falling short in their efforts to reform education, so corporations are stepping in. But will they do more harm than good?



Brad Higham/Flickr
Mass teacher evaluation systems, across-the-board learning benchmarks, and new standardized tests hardly lifted America’s public education system out of mediocrity this past year. In fact, in many cases, well-intentioned reform efforts became so entrenched in controversy, or were so poorly implemented, that they undermined rather than boosted student success. Big data helped paint a better picture of the types of kids in the country’s classrooms—but it painted that picture in broad strokes, often overgeneralizing students’ weaknesses and disregarding their strengths.

It’s hard to say what lasting lessons can come from the complexities that plague school reform. But as Nick Romeo recently wrote, “no single solution will be entirely effective.” Romeo was making an argument for what he described as “Slow School.” Mimicking the Slow Food movement, his Slow School strategy would take a holistic approach to solving the “matrix of connected problems” undercutting public education: “rampant standardized testing, excessive homework loads, the reflexive pursuit of prestige by students and parents, and declining performance on international tests,” to name a few.

Of course, policymakers tend to favor band-aid solutions and instant gratification; Slow School is a nice idea, but it doesn’t hit hard, and it sure doesn’t hit fast. Now, amid growing perception that the government is dragging its feet on its race to the top, one player is making its way further into the world of education reform: the private sector. And if the backlash against one-size-fits-all education in 2014 was any indication, corporations will increasingly do what they can to to undo blanket reforms and hyper-standardization, perhaps dramatically reshaping how and where kids learn. But at what cost?

Schools themselves often actively push for private-sector intervention, summoning the help of for-profit companies to boost student achievement. Google, for example, has developed a range ofeducation programs, and various classroom consulting firms have cropped up promising to help teachers fulfill Common Core.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, has called on the private sector to help it equip America’s students with the science, technology, engineering, and math—or STEM—skills that have been widely touted as the key to the country’s future workforce needs. “President Obama believes that our hardest challenges require an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, bringing together government, industry, non-profits, philanthropy and others working together,” the White House website says. Partners in that effort include leaders from Xerox, Intel, and Time Warner Cable. (Whether the U.S. actually faces a shortage of people who could fill future STEM jobs is another matter altogether.)Private Interests Coming to a Public School Near You - The Atlantic:

Testing under fire - Caitlin Emma - POLITICO

Testing under fire - Caitlin Emma - POLITICO:



Testing under fire

Republicans may consider slashing the number of federally required tests.


French students work on the test of philosophy as they take the baccalaureat exam (high school graduation exam) on June 16, 2014 at the Fustel de Coulanges high school in Strasbourg, eastern France. Some 686 907 candidates are registered for the 2014 session. AFP PHOTO/FREDERICK FLORIN        (Photo credit should read FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)



Republicans on the Hill are finding unusual common ground with teachers unions about an overthrow of the annual testing mandate embedded in No Child Left Behind.
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is making reauthorization of the law one of his biggest priorities — and testing is expected to take center stage. He plans to tackle the issue during a hearing early in the new year. Under serious consideration: slashing the number of federally required tests or even doing away with them all together.
Story Continued Below
This political alliance is part of a larger nationwide movement, buoyed by a grass-roots crusade led by parents and teachers who reject the testing regimes that they say have come to dominate public schools for the past decade.
“We are actively exploring the question of whether the federal mandate on annual tests is warranted,” one GOP aide said. The goal is to give states more flexibility in how they track student progress, report those results to the public and hold schools accountable for all kids.
bipartisan bill gaining momentum among lawmakers would give states grants to audit their testing regimes — and weed out unnecessary exams.
“Annual statewide assessments are critical to ensuring that all students are held to the same high standards and parents, teachers and communities have the information they need about how their children are doing every year,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said when the bill was introduced. “However, in many places, the amount of testing that is redundant or simply not helpful for instruction has become a real problem.”
While Duncan supports that bill, he and President Barack Obama oppose ending the annual testing requirements in NCLB, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. They argue that the yearly tests are vital for assessing student progress and holding schools accountable for making sure every child advances.
The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have railed against what they see as too much testing, especially the kind with consequences. AFT President Randi Weingarten said the annual federal testing mandate must change. The union and GOP can both agree that NCLB’s provisions have “eclipsed what the law was supposed to do, which was improve teaching and learning,” she said.
Now, it’s all about sanctions for those who don’t make the grade, she said. The scores can affect which students advance to the next grade, which teachers keep their jobs and which schools are shut down.
State and school district leaders aren’t waiting on Congress to act. They can’t do


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/testing-under-fire-113807.html#ixzz3NPDS0z12

Charter schools, 'predatory' tactics and 'belief' gap

Charter schools, 'predatory' tactics and 'belief' gap:

Charter schools, 'predatory' tactics and 'belief' gap




Since the Achievement School District announced its decision earlier this month to take over Neely's Bend Middle School in East Nashville, the rhetoric on the pro and con sides has become heated.
The Tennessean has received and published op-eds by two school board members Jill Speering and Amy Frogge accusing ASD of a "hostile" takeover; ASD Superintendent Chris Barbic accusing critics of suffering from a "belief gap" as it concerns the progress of the lowest-performing public schools; and LEAD Schools CEO Chris Reynolds, defending his charter system's record. LEAD is the network that will be carrying out the takeover of Neely's Bend next school year, one grade at a time.
Each is pointing to data defending his or her position. Sorting out whose data is right or accurate is a task I hope to delve into further.
Below please find excerpts from all three articles, plus links to each one in whole. The Tennessean would like to hear your voice on this important issue of charter schools, charter conversion and the public schools. Post your comments to this article or send your letters to the editor to letters@tennessean.com. Make sure to include your full name, address and phone number for verification; we'll only publish your name, city and ZIP code.
ASD riles parents, community with school takeover
By Jill Speering and Amy Frogge


"While the charter movement is allegedly predicated on parental "choice," that choice seems to vanish when appointed ASD officials decide to impose a charter school on a community. The ASD is pushing forward despite protests by parents, teachers, community members, a variety of elected officials from the community (including current and former school board members), and even the MNPS Director of Schools." Charter schools, 'predatory' tactics and 'belief' gap: