Discusses the history of the Washington public school system from pre-1945 to the present to show how its problems have evolved. Discusses why the system's bad image developed and why it has been so slow to change. Student achievement and segregation are discussed extensively. (JS)

This case study traces the formation of a school district profoundly affected by race, political, sociological, and economic factors by examining a district in Cincinnati (Ohio) from the turn of the century through the 1950s. The study confirms the relationship between economic participation and educational opportunities. (SLD)

Reviews the historic white fear of the educated black man in the Jim Crow period and earlier, when education of the African American was seen as a threat to the stable workforce African Americans represented. Curtailing educational opportunity was an important means of racial control. (SLD)

Examined patterns of school segregation and other ecological characteristics of 89 schools attended by Puerto Rican students who migrated to the mainland United States (New Jersey). Correlations show that the higher the proportion of Hispanics/Latinos, the higher the student body's proportion of students from economically impoverished households…

Examines the foundation of private segregationist academies across Mississippi counties following court-ordered desegregation, 1969-71. Argues that the establishment of academies was a countermovement strategy emerging from the prior history of organized white resistance to the civil rights movement, and was a response to the social-movement…

Describes historical and current trends in Argentina's private and public primary- and secondary-school enrollment levels and policy reasons behind changes, including deregulation of private schools. Evaluates research analyzing impact of increased private-school enrollment; argues middle- and high-income students are opting out of public schools…

Measured the wealth redistribution effected by southern schools and the taxes that supported them using data from a large sample of southern states for 1880 through 1910. When taxes and expenditures are considered, the separate but equal school system appears to have provided a net transfer to black students. Public schooling in the South was a…

Ng suggests that a funding scheme that is dramatically unequal in direct spending can still be fair, but his measure of fairness, net subsidy, flies in the face of all government public-good spending practices. Politicians trying to avoid the issue of unequal funding should not take comfort from Ng's analysis. (SLD)

Uses survey data from 1,833 high school students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina, to study the direct and indirect negative effects of segregation on academic achievement in the context of the "Swann" court decision. Demonstrates how whites retain privileged access to greater opportunities to learn and how segregated…

It's a little-known fact, but, 50 years ago, the junior high and high schools of Topeka, Kan., were integrated--though in name only. Fear was the order of the day at the high school, where an African American assistant superintendent by the name of Harrison Caldwell roamed the halls as the "White folks' enforcer," ensuring that African…

This article examines ethnic segregation, defined as segregation among racial groups as well as between native-born and immigrant students, across elementary school classrooms in New York City. Specifically, the study compares patterns in within-school segregation across ethnic groups, grades, boroughs, and years. Current levels of within-school…

The voucher model of financing schooling is becoming increasingly common throughout Latin America, with at least 12 countries using vouchers or voucher-like schemes. The present study focuses on the voucher models of Colombia and Chile, which have the most extensive programs of this type and those of the longest standing in the region. Using…

Schooling and the state of student achievement will receive intense scrutiny this year during the observance of the 50th anniversary of "Brown v. Board of Education" (2004). In "Brown" the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the "separate but equal" doctrine that had been established under "Plessy v. Ferguson" (1896) and the legal foundation under which…

If one was an African-American student in a large Northern city 50 years ago, his public school, very likely, would have been segregated--even in New England. Only one year earlier, in "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that legally sanctioned school segregation violated the 14th Amendment…

When it comes to high school proms, one size may not fit all. In this article, the author presents different alternative proms that provide safe havens or to accommodate different student interests. Some groups are providing alternative proms for students based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. However, several…