Memo from Walsh to Brittain Re: Remedial Plan

    MEMORANDUM 

FROM: Catherine Wals 

RE: Remedial Plan Sheff v. O'Neill 
DATE: September 24, 1990 

TO: John Brittain oy 

  

As agreed upon in our telephone conversation last week and in 

preparation for the September 26th meeting with the plaintiffs, 1 

have put together some preliminary thoughts on remediation that 

could serve as a basis for discussion. While the elements of an 

actual plan must be based on the needs, desires, and perspectives 

of the plaintiffs and the broader communities from which they come, 

I believe the considerations I have identified below (along with 

ideas from the other experts) might help direct and encourage 

community dialogue and involvement. The considerations also make 

clear my particular perspectives on guality educatlon and 
integration and move beyond superficial desegregating in terms 

of percentages, 

Considerations in the Development of a Remedial Plan 
  

1. Mandatory versus voluntary nature of plan. 

1 feel pretty strongly that the educational and financial 

inequities in the greater Hartford area cannot be addressed 

through purely voluntary means or by retaining current district 

boundaries. Efforts need to be made, however, to insure that 
the burden of reassignment and/or busing not be on the 
African American and Puerto Rican communities or that 
the cultural pride and solidarity that may currently exlst in 

majority “minority" schools be sacrificed. Considerations need 

to include: ; 

a) discussion on the feasibility of a single jurisdiction 

metropolitan plan that might include options such as: 

-creation of school zones that cross current district 

boundaries 
~pairing and clustering of elementary schools 
-feoeder middle schools 
-buginess/school partnerships 

-two-way bilingual schocls in both suburban as well as 
urban environments : 

~additicnal funding to urban schools until facility and 
resource inequities are remediated 

») identification of process and procedures for reassignment 
including: 

~description of populations,e.g., white suburban,white 

urban, minority urban and suburban, Puerto Rican limited 
English proficient, former bilingual student, English 
dominant : 

~grade structures,e.g., k-8, middle schs, junior high 

-maintenance of bilingual programe within schools versus 

or including two-way bilingual schools; designation 

of high school sites for bilingual programs, new 

 



  

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arrivals,and for continued development of Spanish 

native language skills 

¢) examination of desegregation as a broader element of 

school change and of social, racial, ethnic, and 

: linguistic inclusion (see school restructuring below). 

2. Need for overall school restructuring. 

a) decision making ! 
The current management and administration of schools 

does not encourage community, parental, student, or 

even teacher participation and involvement. An equal and 

quality education must incorporate and build upon the 

knowledge and perspectives of those who know the children 

best (parents and teachers); must recognize the school 

as the community institution it is; and must encourage 

more cooperative and inclusionary methods of decision 

making and governance that take into account diversas 

experiences and promote broader understanding (i.e, 

school based management). 

  

») commitment to academic excellence 

In the development of desegregation and magnet school 

plans, schools in minority neighborhoods often assume 

2 vocational, business, or arts function while schools 

in integrated or white neighborhoods develop an academic 

orientation or reputation. Particular emphasis needs to 

be placed on ensuring that all schools place a high 

commitment on the fostering of academic excellence and 

+hat extra funds be targeted for this effort in inner 

city schools, ; 

  

c) curriculum 
changing the racial composition of school buildings does 

not in any way insure that the focus and content of 

instruction will necessarily foster or even promote 

cultural understanding. Moreover, the white, middle 

lass bias of most curriculum and texts works to deny 

the experiences and perspectives of working class 

students in general and students of color in particular, 

Maior changes therefore must occur in the current 

curriculum to make it reflective and inclusive of the 

contributions, experiences, and perspectives of African 

Americans, Puerto Ricans, Asianeg and other groups and 

to the particular experience of these communities in 

Ccnnecticut and the nation (e.g., NY State's efforts 

to develop a curriculum of inclusion). Such changes should 

be mandated. It is also essential that both the 

curriculum and the teaching approaches challenge students, 

encourage critical thinking, and promote cooperative 

learning and teacher collaboration. 

  

d) language and culture 

An equal education plan must address the need for all   

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schools to value and support the linguistic and cultural knowledge of all students; it should also use language learning as a way to foster understanding and integration. Spanish bilingualism should thus be treated as an advantage and the learning of Spanish a requirement at all grade levels. Elective Spanish as a native language courses (beyond bilingual education) should be offerred in grades 7-12 and ESL support should be provided to native Spanish Speaking students even after they are mainstreamed since it takes approximately 5-7 years for these students to become academically proficient in English, 
Efforts should thus be made in the design of a remedial plan to consider the designation of two-way bilingual schools, the pairing of bilingual and monolingual 
classrooms, and the cross—utilization of bilingual and mainstream teachers. : 

grouping 
Desegregation efforts have often worked to re-segregate 
minority students within classrooms as well as in ability groupings. Research demonstrates that minority students most often end up in the lewer groups and that this 
grouping tends to foster low levels of achievement. An effort should therefore be made in the remedial plan 
to eliminate tracking and to promote heterogeneous 
grouping across ability levels. While limitsd English proficient students need to be homogeneously grouped 
in terms of language for soms aspects of instruction, collaborative learning opportunities with English proficient students can and should be integrated 
throughout the school day in academic as well as non- academic instruction. 

community, parent, student needs 
In the design of a plan and in the restructuring of schools considerations must be made as to how schools can better 
meet the needs of diverss populations and address the social and economic pressures and realities of today's world. These considerations might include: 

1) extending the school year 
2) flexible and extendsd school day scheduling at the 

seconcary level (e.g., 7AM-9PM) to accomodate students 
who work or have family responsibilities 
extended day early childhood programs with access for 
the children of student-parents. 
increased and ongoing access to trained counselors 
that represent language and cultural backgrounds of 
students 
social service offices and services within gchool 
buildings including adult education (ESL, literacy), 
and programs of parent education 

The inclusion of some or all of these elements could also enhance the image of some schools and help attract target 
populations, 

  

      
  

  

  
 



  

g) staffing 
  

A metropolitan plan must consider and plan for teacher 
and administrative integration, minority teacher and 
administrator recruitment (including bilingual staff), 
mandatory staff development, and opportunities for 
collaborative planning and teaching. 

parent and community involvement : 
Efforts must be made in the remedial plan development to 
insure that parents and the community are actively 
involved in all aspects of education. School based 
management councils, adult education and social service 
components, curriculum development afford some examples of 
the ways this involvement can be fostered. Others include: 

—parent/teacher meetings in neighborhoods 

-parent centers in elementary schoo! buildings 
ncluglion of parents in some high school classes (ses 

flexible scheduling) 
—palring of schools or classes with community agencies 
-grandparent collaborations with elementary schools 

  

THESE ARE JUST SOME PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS PUT TOGETHER RATHER 
QUICKLY 

a Tee. . 

rS