LDF Introduces Computer Results to Speed Mixing of Schools in Houston
Press Release
July 14, 1969

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Press Releases, Volume 6. LDF Introduces Computer Results to Speed Mixing of Schools in Houston, 1969. d94b9e9b-b992-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/47b2806a-ee23-4a23-9cef-d207754b4f48/ldf-introduces-computer-results-to-speed-mixing-of-schools-in-houston. Accessed July 30, 2025.
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ates a! uel 4 4 President Hon. Francis E. Rivers a ATA) FE PRESS RELEASE Directer-Counsel egal efense und spate Director, Public Relations NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. Jesse DeVore, Jr. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487 FOR RELEASE MONDAY, July 14, 1969 LDF INTRODUCES COMPUTER RESULTS TO SPEED MIXING OF SCHOOLS IN HOUSTON Suits in Memphis, Dallas and Atlanta May Be Affected HOUSTON---A plan to completely integrate this city's 250,000 school children by September--devised by research scientists via a computer-- will be introduced in U.S. District Court here today. Attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), who have been pursuing this case since 1956, said that the com- puter was Given one set of comprehensive and pertinent date about the Houston School System. This data--number and location of schools plus racial composition and location of students--was generated by the computer in a short period of time into “several alternate student assignment schemes." These plans, the LDF attorneys point out, were then evaluated for their individual merits, and the best one selected. The alternate plans were rechecked. One section of the ¢ity, representing 1/5 of the total populace and area, was run through the computer three times to be certain none of the alternates was superior to the plan selected. FINDINGS EXTENDED All plans were judged on two crucial criteria: busing costs and the level of desegregation achieved. The plan “with the most satisfactory balance between the two factors" was selected. It was then used as a model for devising the integration pattern for the other four sections of the city. The data was programmed for the LDF by ABT Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. It was then put into the computer by AVCO Computer Services of Wilmington, Mass., under the direction of Robert Norbed, systems analyst. PIONEER CASE LDF attorneys consider Houston as the "lead case" for bringing complete integration to school systems of large southern cities. Results of this argument may affect pending LDF litigation in Dallas, Atlanta, and Memphis. The LDF maintains that the "freedom-of-choice" method of school integration, which has been practiced in Houston for the past several years, has brought only token results. (Under "freedom-of-choice" the students select the school they attend. However, experience shows that the weight of progress has been placed on Negro parents and children.) During the Houston trial, which is expected to last two weeks, LDF attorneys will also ask for integration of faculty and staff by September. They will stress that during the last school year 79.8 per cent of the white students attended schools which had more than 95 per cent white student bodies. 25 —_=— Z LDF INTRODUCES COMPUTER RESULTS TO SPEED MIXING OF SCHOOLS IN HOUSTON -2- July 14, 1969 Conversely, 81.7 per cent of the Negro students attended schools which had over 95 per cent Negro student bodies. This phase of the campaign to integrate Houston schools, one of the longest litigation efforts in LDF history, follows four U.S. District Court rulings ordering this city to end its dual school system, Previous decisions occurred on August 12, 1960; October 25, 1965; September 5, 1967; and October 15, 1967. =30= EDITOR'S NOTE: Please bear in mind that the LDF is a completely separate and distinct organization even though we were established by the NAACP and those initials are retained in our name. Our correct designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., frequently shortened to LDF.