Plaintiffs Exhibit Proposals for School Integration and Desegregation
Public Court Documents
November 24, 1970

14 pages
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Case Files, Milliken Hardbacks. Plaintiffs Exhibit Proposals for School Integration and Desegregation, 1970. ca89ee6d-52e9-ef11-a730-7c1e5247dfc0. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/4f40fea4-ce46-4524-b7a0-eeee471edb05/plaintiffs-exhibit-proposals-for-school-integration-and-desegregation. Accessed July 13, 2025.
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7? PROPOSALS <Lo>ŝS The Department of Intergroup Relations recommends consideration ^ ^ " ‘fSrMncreasing th^ifati^itW racial raix*of^following alternative'pi sens forVincreasing our students at various grade levels throughout the total district* A basic consideration in the drawing of such plans is tne history of the requirement for travel, to school-, of students over a period of years prior to the expansion of the number of senior high schools. These facts are pertinent. 1. Cody, Ford, Mumford, Osborn, Finney, Kettering, King and Murray high schools have been constructed in the past 25 years and were built to provide for increased enrollments rather than convenience. As each of these schools was built, district boundaries, for schools in the general area were altered and students changed the direction and distance that they traveled to attend school. 2. The distances some students currently travel to attend Finney or Southwestern schools is equal to or greater than students in our other schools. 3. Junior high schools have been constructed in order to provide seats for students that have resulted in considerable diminution^ of the distances students have had to travel, as compared to their predecessors. The first recommendation from the department would reinstate the April 7 boundary changes. Although changes in racial percentages have occurred during the past year, the relationship of the paired schools in that plan are still, relatively, the same. That is, Redford, Cody, Osborn, Denby,^ Western and Ford have a significant majority of white students. Mackenzie, Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance of black students. Therefore, we recommend:x 1. That, the boundary and junior high school feeder pattern changes as defined on April 7 be implemented for the spring semester. 2. That, an immediate change for incoming 10th grade students and for all students currently in the 10th and 11th grades be made. 3. If, the April 7 plan is compared to the current 8-region organi zation, it is apparent that all facets of that plan may be initiated within the current organization, except Denby-Kettering. The fact of a violation of region boundaries as a requirement^to re-institute April 7 should not be a major deterrent to carrying out the plan. Precedent exists currently in the Post-Cooley, Burroughs-Kettering, and the Verhor-Vandenberg-Ford combinations for student attendance areas which do not fit adult voting areas. *■"' - > <9 4 \ f - i& ■t Vv * 1 Jt M w • ' »v»f■V > . ■ f I - 2- In the effort to maximize the amount of integration, we recommend that junior high schools be paired in such a manner as in the following examples: 1. The pattern of alternate grades attending each school be instituted in the following schools: Richard-Von Steuben-Burroughs, Goodale-Joy, Farwell-Grant, Earhart-Pelham, Condon-Wilson, Drew-Brooks-Ruddiman, Etoerson-Winship, Nolan, Farwell1', Grant and further that additional schools be added, if possible to this list. A third alternative would be to close, as regular junior or senior high schools, those schools with seriously declining enrollments, and reorganize them as specialized'trade schools or as experimental "open” schools with a city-wide enrollment. Some of these school plants might be: Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, Northeastern, Murray, Chadsey and Northern. In each case cited, the neighboring schools have capacity to share or absorb entirely the enrollment of the school to be closed. Each of these schools has availability to public transportation which would allow them to function a6 a magnet school. For instance, the relationship with Michigan Bell Telephone Company and Northern High School might be better exploited by the school's role as a magnet school with a city-wide draw. The existence of such schools with a free and open transfer policy would act as a pressure relief for those parents and students now in serious disagreement with the program of the "comprehensive” high school. * - "H M *■ ■ *■ Some principles of the magnet school concept are as follows: 1. The school program must be so planned that it will receive recognition as one of real strength and special value to students, cleanly superior in one or more vital respects to the neighborhood high school. 2. Such schools would utilize innovative and sound patterns of organi zation, curriculum, student government, personnel, housing and other areas of school life. • * • • a* 3. The name of the school should be changed, so it is no longer identified as an old neighborhood school, and it is viewed as a new school identified with a new and most promising specialized program. k. Attention should be directed to the lines of transportation, to insure that students and parents would consider these among the best and most desirable. 5. The student and staff membership must be well integrated racially. ; Hi Hr r ^ it? # J v * 4 * - > 6m The school should be advertised as open to suburbanites. There may well be some objections, however, the advantages derived would clearly out weigh the objections. The enrollment of a number of suburbanites would do wonders for the schools image and reputation. 7. The school would have a free and open transfer policy, crossing regional and even district lines. 8. These schools could be given some special prestigious label, such as "the metropolitan schools." m s k % In response to the NAACP appeal to the court for a structured student ratio reflective of the city enrollment as a whole, the Department of Intergroup Relations recommends the practices below: 1. One approach might be a bussing structure as demonstrated in Berkeley, California, a cross-bussing of grades with a series of planned steps as detailed in the many reviews of that plan. This plan would require considerable logistical preparation, community preparation and professional staff orientation. Appropriate descriptions of the Berkeley plan may be found in the attached articles. 2m Some principles which ought to apply to such a plan are as follows! % — schools with up to bO% of either race would not be involved in the pairing program — all schools to be paired should involve all of the children in order to build identification with the program. ft • V- r'. ■ % "* I < fT\ J Mi. f * f iN $ m .. ‘ * * ml f 4 * ■ - k $■ % ■ if v j ; i 'V >1 f - A % ) t * ‘ - 'W, *, - f . $ 4 ' % i i p f . i - i' * '• 4, f f : i f ]w J ^ # 'f I $ I I f Y 7-? * BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. School Management November, 19^^ •* "When the Buses Began to Roll" by Don Wegars 2. Phi Delta Kappan March, 1968 "Should Administrators Seek Racial Balance in the Schools?" by Neil Sullivan, $, r\ fV * 4. i f * f /. ;*,% : 5. 6. r . - 4 t • 4'," I <•>»• > V * ' * ■ •- : t,' . *'* , A, | if L# V- * ■ Si Phi Delta Kappan May, 19^9 "A Landmark in School Racial Integration: Berkeley, California” by Mike M. Milstein and Dean E. Hoch Nation’s Schools September, 19^7 "These Integration Approaches Work— Sometimes" by Robert J. Havighurst CTA Journal January, 1969 "The Black Tree That Grows in Berkeley" by Harold J . Maves * - « 1,ri- t The Instructor January, 19 69 "Follow Through in Berkeley" by Louise C. Brown November 2, 1970^ c {aA ^ ■ / / ~ 3 - y - 7 / J PBOPOSALS IN THE HATTER OF SCHOOL INTEGRATION Submitted by DIVISION OF SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS w>^.*V The Department of Intergroup Relations offers for consideration the following alternative proposals for increasing the degree of racial desegregation at various grade levels throughout the total district. Certain fundamentals must be taken into account in planning alternatives: (l) the amount of racial mix of students and (2) the degree to which regional boundaries are held inviolate so that parents can vote and help to determine policies of the schools which their children attend. The following five (5) proposals are offered for consideration. Proposal 1: Implementation of April 7 plan as originally conceived as of February, 1971* Although changes in racial percentages have occurred during the past year, the relationship of the paired schools in that plan are still, relatively, the same. That is, Bedford, Cody, Osborn, Denby, Western and Ford have a significant majority of white students. Mackenzie, Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance of black students. Advantages: 1. 2. Minimizes violence to decentralization. Only Denby-KAtterixig fail to fit within the regional boundaries as presently drawn. A greater racial mix will occur than presently exists at the high school level. - ■ t * $ y v it$ & :■ A ■ W: i r. ■' 'ffi- M; ' m ’ , I ■ *Disadvantages: 1. No steps are planned in this proposal for increasing integration at the junior high school and elementary school levels. ...., ... , jjf2. Adequate planning time for implementation of this proposal is missing. If the proposal is to be successful, in-service training V * programs to develop the instructional curricular and attitudinal changes must be instituted. Involvement of the affected communities in all of the preparatory steps would also be of crucial importance and this, too, would lengthen the planning process. Proposal 2 : Implement April 7 plan with the following additions: a . That, an immediate change for incoming 10» grade students and for all students currently in the 10U> and life grades be made. p; ps -JL ! ■ ^ rdtf i School Integration Proposals Page 2 b. If, the April 7 plan is compared to the current 8-region organization, it is apparent that all facets of that plan nay be initiated within the current organization, except Denby-Kettering. The fact of a violation of region boundaries as a requirement to re-institute April 7 should not be a major deterrent to carrying out the plan. Precedent exists currently in the Post-Cooley, Burroughs-Kettering, and the Vernor-Vandenberg- Ford combinations for student attendance areas which do not fit adult voting areas. c. It is obvious that there is room for debate as to the extent that the 8-region organization may be abridged. Citizen discontent has been expressed with the several discontinuous areas noted in Item b above. The court will be hearing the NAACP case after the region boards have been elected. Unfortunately the boundaries for Regions 6, 7 and 8 are such as to cut the Kettering constellation in two major parts, and also , to leave the Denby area without an adjacent area from which to draw black students. If, region boundaries cannot be altered, and if the high school plan is altered as a consequence, then integration in the April 7^ concept, cannot be carried out, on the east side, in any manner equal to that on the west side. Therefore, exploration of the possibility of court-ordered changes in t.h« ef"5 ryp boundaries ought tc be explored in order to make the April 7^ plan feasible. Advantages: 1. A greater integrated student population than currently exists or that would exist by the implementation of the April 7^ boundary changes only. 2. A continuum of disfunction between school attendance and region authority exists between Proposal #1 and #2. This same disfunction occurs in varying degrees in each proposal. 3. laess busing would be required under this proposal, than Proposal 1. Therefore, money and student travel time would be required. Proposal 3 « Pairing of elementary and junior high schools. In the effort to maximize the amount of integration, we recommend that schools be paired in such a manner as in the following examples: School Integration Proposals P»«e 3 1. The pattern of alternate grades attending each school be instituted in the following schools: Richard-Von Steuben-Burroughs, Goodale-Joy, Earhart-Pelham, Condon-Wilson, Drew-Brooks-Ruddiman, Emerson-Winship, and further that additional schools be added, if possible, to this list. 2. Pairing of the schools which have less than 5# of either white or black students can move towards the NAACP position. Thirty-nine elementary schools have less than 5% black students and 94 schools have less than 5% white students. Similarly, a bussing program might bring together the following: Junior Highs Taft Beaubien Arthur-Richard Foch Lessenger Webber Elementary All White White 970 13 464-672 74 943 1 Black 7 1,255 10-23 1,564 86 (bussed, now) 1,385 All Black Cooke 996 Angell 1,282 Gompers 461 Brady 1,125 Healy 298 Glazer 753 McLean 214 Sanders 669 Proposal 4: Magnet School A third alternative would be to close, as regular junior or senior high schools, those schools with seriously declining enrollments, and reorganize them as specialized trade schools or as experimental "open" schools with a city-wide enrollment. Some of these school plants might be: Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, Northeastern, Murray, Chadsey and Northern. Some principles of the magnet school concept which should be applied include the following: School Integration Proposals Page k x. The school program must be so planned that it will receive recognition as one of real strength and special value to students, clearly superior in one or more vital respects to the neighborhood high school* 2* Such schools would utilize innovative and sound patterns of organization, curriculum, student government, personnel, housing and other areas of school life* 3* ' The name of the school should be changed, so it is no longer identified as an old neighborhood school, and it is viewed as a new school identified with a new and most promising specialized program* Jf* Attention should be directed to the lines of transportation, - to insure that students and parents would consider these among the best and most desirable* 5* The student and staff membership must be well integrated racially* 6* The school should be advertised as open to suburbanites* There may Well be some objections; however, the advantages derived would clearly outweigh the objections* The enrollment of a number of suburbanites would do wonders for the school's image and reputation* 7* The school would have a free and open transfer policy, crossing regional and even district lines. 8. These schools could be given some special prestigious label, such as "the metropolitan schools*" ’ Advantages: In each case cited, the neighboring schools have capacity to share or absorb entirely the enrollment of the school to be closed* Each of these schools has availability to public transportation which would allow them to function as a magnet school. For instance, the relationship with Michigan Bell Telephone Company and Northern High School might be better exploited by the school's role as a magnet school with a city-wide draw. The existence of such schools with a free and open transfer policy would act as a pressure relief for those parents and students now in serious disagreement with the program of the "comprehensive" high school. School Integration Proposals Page 5 Disadvantage s: 1* Jeopardy to principle of decentralization, 2, Under Proposal b integration of students probably will not immediately result from the magnet school concept. The city-wide attraction to both white and black parents is a function of sufficient time to '‘prove" to the community the educational strength and the merit of the specialized magnet schools, . ' ’ • ..1Proposal 5: NAACP Plan. • ’ ... In response to the NAACP appeal to the court for a structured student ratio reflective of the city enrollment as a whole, the Department of Intergroup Relations recommends the practices below: 1. One approach might be a bussing structure as demonstrated in Berkeley, California, a cross-bussing of grades with a series of planned steps as detailed in the many reviews of that plan. This plan would require considerable logistical preparation, community preparation and professional staff orientation. Appropriate descriptions of the Berkeley plan may be found in the attached articles, 2, Some observations which might be made about such a plan are as follows: — schools with up to bO% of either race would not be involved in the program. — all schools should involve all of the children in order to build identification with the program, • - : ■** — Cody, Ford, Mumford, Osborn, Finney, Kettering, King and Hurray high schools have been constructed in the past 25 years and were built to provide for increased enrollments rather than .convenience. As each of these schools was built, district boundaries for schools in the general area were altered and students changed the direction and distance that they traveled to attend school. — the distances some students currently travel to attend Finney or Southwestern schools is equal to or greater than students would probably be asked to travel. School Integration Proposals Page 6 — Junior high schools have been constructed in order to provide seats for students that have resulted in considerable diminuti of the distances students have had to travel, as compared to their predecessors* The maximum racial mix in Detroit Public Schools would occur by < * * * £ • * students in each public school in the racial proportions t^atexist the svstem as a whole. The current student enrollment as of October, 1970, Sdicates a racial proportion of 62* black, 38* white. Therefore, students iSuid be assigned i f a manner that the enrollment In be 62* black and 38* white. This has been done inEerkeiey, cal;forn . Description of the Berkeley plan may be found in the attached articles. Advantages: 1. A completely integrated student population to the degree allowable based on the total number of black and white students. Disadvantage s: Funds 1. The sheer size of Detroit indicates that such a proposal would necessitate a massive busing program. SUMMARY s g s s - £ £ " s ^ T g i v e s maximum"planned^considerŝ i o ^ for° the* i n t e ^ ^ i o n o f element^ y SShool students. Reposals 2 and 3 predominantly deal with the racial rate at the junior and senior high school levels. For more than a year our school system has been d e e p l y P*anS for decentralization. The five proposals presentedaisoconstitute a continuum in terms of difficulties encountered by the 8-region plan as prescribed by the legislature. The Division of School-Community Relations urges that any of the above£s?*rsr ssa-ssraa « «M d orientation of students, community and staff so that the prognosis for success of the adopted plan is maximized. We would urge that as of January, 1971, regional boards be dir®oJ®dclosely, the possibilities of increasing integration within their Individual boundaries. The central board should reserve, through the adoption of guidelines, the authority to mandate movement toward integration of the entire district. * ... ' • . _ > • - j * % . . School Integration Proposals Page 7 A final word of concern is directed specifically to the critical need, as we see it at this time, to balance satisfactorily both the aims and implementation of integration goals on the one hand and decentralization , goals on the other. &>• : : ;• ■ . . ,f • 5,-V.' ...>. _ • t; /jSjL... . ' ̂ Ijlk ... .... f ft' 17-p g November 9> 1970 PPOPOS/L FOR SCHOOL DESEGREGATION The staff task force of Detroit Public Schools, after considering various alternative proposals submitted by the Division of School- Community Relations, offers for consideration the following recom mendation for increasing the degree of racial desegregation at various grade levels in the school district. Certain fundamentals must be taken into account in considering this proposal: (1) the amount of racial mix of students, and (2) the degree to which regional boundaries are held inviolate so that parents can vote and help to determine policies of the schools which their children attend. 1. 2 . The School Board should adopt a High School Desegregation Plan, and change high school attendance boundaries as defined by School Board action on April 7> 1970, to take effect for all students entering the affected schools in February, 1971. Although changes in racial percentages have occurred during the past year, the relationship of the paired schools in that plan are still, relatively, the same. That Is, Redford, Cody, Osborn, Denby, Western and Ford have a significant majority of white students. Mackenzie, Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance of black students. It should be noted that all boundary changes occur within the established eight regions, with the exception of the Denby-Kettering areas. '"fu\w » & 4"t-’"■4 ■ > ■ V iw * JW % m: m NOTE: This part of the plan will include approximately 800 to 1,000 students in February and'another 3>200 In September. ! - As part of a long-range plan to provide further desegregation * we also propose a reorganization of the schools to include adjustment of grade level organization. The reasons for edu cational groupings In the past have varied, but have rarely included the basic purpose of desegregation. With desegregation as a basic aim, it is possible to reorganize a number of schools in pursuit of this objective. This reorganization also requires redrawing of school attendance areas. It Is proposed In this movement towards reorganization that we direct our efforts towards implementation of the following: , , ^ V ^1. A modification of a h-h—h school concept. 2. Refinement and expansion of a magnet school approach. ’ '' ĵL VI * I t i ^ f f i \ p « St * ‘ r ; I Lf1 JI . % 5 r' • 6 ;■■ y>-:,; #' W % r ;^ ' ic ••, I A \ ... i •lip. r # # t ?■ Ji .::■ - 2 - It should be noted that the l»-l|̂l* plan is receiving national acceptance of its educational validity and in line with this, previous Board of Education action has resulted in the adoption of the 4-year high school. Modifications of this plan will, of course, be necessary to take into account the unique housing and boundary situations of individual school communities. V:;' v: *';• ';w The magnet school plan would close, as regular junior or senior high schools, those schools with seriously declining enrollments, and reorganize them as specialized schools or as experimental nopen!' schools with a city-wide enrollment. Some of these school plants might be: Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, Northwestern, Murray, Chadsey and Northern >.fy: *■; & Some principles of the magnet school concept which should be applied include the following: ! ■ ■: t' 6 1. The school program must be so planned that it will receive recognition as one of real strength and special value to students, clearly superior in one or more vital respects to the neighbor hood high school. 2. Such schools would utilize innovative and sound patterns of organization, curriculum, student L government, personnel, housing and other areas of school life. - * m 3. ■' T̂v . The name of the school should be changed, so it is no longer identified as an old neighbor hood school, and it is viewed as a new school identified with a new and most promising specialized program. Attention should be directed to the lines of. .____ „ J--a kf4. U W vy A i V A -------- ■ .. transportation, to insure that students andU X a i i o p w i U U U J . W U * -*-***-' ~ " parents would consider these among the best i _ _ J 4 — t— "1 a «and most desirable. V . J F 5. 6 . The student and staff membership must be well integrated racially. .. ' ■' ' . f The school should be advertised as open to suburbanites. 7. The school would have a free and open transfer policy, crossing regional and even district lines. 8. These schools could be given some special prestigious label, such as Mthe metropolitan schools.” NOTE: This part of the plan may well include as many as 25,000 in the portion and the magnet plan could well involve several thousand more. SUMMARY The success of this plan of action is dependent upon clear policy commitment and in-service training programs to develop the Instructional, curricular and attitudinal changes. Involvement of the affected communities In all of the preparatory steps would also be of crucial importance. The strength of this proposal Is that a greater degree of racial desegregation is achieved within the currently established regions. This reinforces the processes of integration and decentralization. The high school desegregation component extends the continuing effort tovrard desegregation as a major goal of the Detroit Public Schools. The modified middle school component extends that effort within established regional boundaries, including all grade levels, and will require in many instances the busing of students. Although the magnet school encompasses the total district, it encourages voluntary integration by attracting Interested students to its specialized programs. We recommend that as of January, 1971, regional boards be directed to examine closely, the possibilities of increasing integration within their boundaries. The central board should reserve, through the adoption of guidelines, the authority to mandate movement toward integration of the entire district.