THIS ARTICLE CRITICIZES THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION'S (USOE) "INEFFECTIVE" ENFORCEMENT OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION AS REQUIRED UNDER THE 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, TITLE VI, AND THE DISCRIMINATORY DISTRIBUTION OF FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION. IT IS FELT THAT DESPITE THE NONDISCRIMINATION REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 601 OF THE TITLE FEDERAL AID TO…

Since February 1974, the Freedom House Institute on Schools and Education has been attempting to chip away at the walls that divide people from their educational opportunities, by providing the information which they must have in order to deal effectively with the Boston Public School System and related educational resources. This brochure is an…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential role of selected fiscal incentives in attempting to achieve greater racial and socioeconomic integration through open enrollment programs. Three premises underlie this paper: first, that past experience with district wide unrestricted (color-blind) open enrollment plans indicate that this…

The central issue in educational reform should be how to confront educational inequalities, but the conservative movement has tried to transform the issue from one of inequality to one of "choice." The choice being promoted by conservative forces comes at the expense of community in that it seeks to set up schools that respond to the…

Magnet schools are public schools that offer specialized subject themes or educational methodologies as a way of achieving desegregated student bodies. This document reports on a study of school districts in three communities--St. Louis (Missouri), Cincinnati (Ohio), and Nashville (Tennessee)--that have made wide use of magnets in meeting their…

Initial studies of school choice in Massachusetts have concentrated on the mechanics of the program, but this report examines why parents choose school choice. A survey of Massachusetts families participating in school choice was completed by 826 families (return rate of 41.8%), representing 987 choice students, or about 23.5% of the estimated…

State legislatures have become increasingly willing to experiment with school choice. Since 1985, more than half the states have passed school choice laws. This article reports on a survey conducted in the summer of 1991 and updated in the fall of that year that focuses on state choice statutes. Six categories of school choice laws are discussed:…

The scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills taken by 179 Black and Hispanic students who voluntarily transferred from predominantly minority schools to desegregated schools were examined. They reveal that a desegregated education obtained through voluntary transfer has no significant effect on the reading and mathematics achievement levels of…

REPORTED ARE SOME OF THE ACADEMIC EFFECTS OF THE OPTIONAL TRANSFER PLAN IN NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, WHERE STUDENTS FROM A NEGRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WERE BUSED TO OTHER SCHOOLS. METROPOLITAN ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES OF TRANSFER STUDENTS IN GRADES ONE THROUGH FIVE SHOWED THAT THE MEAN GRADE EQUIVALENTS WERE CONSISTENT WITH GROWTH SCORES FOR NONTRANSFER…

In this book, an overall analysis of the urban crisis is presented and concrete suggestions are made for renewing urban education through a unique design called the "public-schools-of-choice system." Fundamentally a plan in which a range of optional school programs would be offered to diverse student groups in every community, the public schools…

Racial segregation in housing and racially identifiable schools each contribute to the existence of the other. The case of Milwaukee shows that the Supreme Court's efforts to construe school cases narrowly should fail and that policymakers should take a broad perspective on racial problems. (RLV)

Discusses a recent Wisconsin "school choice" initiative, under which parents may choose public, private, nonsectarian, or religious schools for their children and have state funding directed to the appropriate institutions. Argues that school choice programs empower parents to provide the best education available to their children. (MAB)

Public "schools of choice" refers to a new trend in educational policy that involves various forms of competition and choice. The initiatives of individual states range from authorizing magnet schools to allowing parents to send children to neighboring school districts. What these programs have in common is that parents, as consumers of…

This report summarizes the activities and accomplishments of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) system in accordance with "Board of School Directors v. Thompson" (the "Agreement"). The Agreement relates to Chapter 220, the Wisconsin State statute that provides financial aid to encourage student transfers among schools and…

This 1961 report describes the experiences of the United Parents Association (UPA) in two New York City communities facingschool integration. In one case involving the voluntary busing of Negro children from an overcrowded school to an underutilized white school, the entire transfer occurred without incident because of the careful planning and…