News Clippings on School Desegregation

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   “NOVEMBER 16, 1930 
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nnn Ab EE SEN 7 Ao, 4 
a a? A SRT FH SEE 

aly ‘ROBERT A. FRAHM * separate ty ne sd Schools, 
Courant Education Writer =~. t Suit, “Sheff vs."O’Neill, con- 

# at Belmont 4 He College in North tends that the isolation of black and 
Connecticut is not likely to deseg- - _Carolina, headed the Charlotte, N.C.,  Hispahic pupils in Hartford's public 

regate its public schools voluntarily, ~~ public Achogl: until onal He was Schools hte the state constitu- 
says a former West Hartford educa- ;among a umber of na tion. Mos sin suburban schools 

tor who later headed one of the who. ated Si ps Eres | 
“South’s mast well-known court-de- = TOS 
segregated school systems. “=! “i¥regation 

$3 “I think you'll do only what the Th ‘Much of 
“a Eos fn ” Peter D. Re a 

a fi 

  

: E51 you want. fo.do The Fight th thing | % Rettnce! 
it’s going to cost you money,” Willie 

LF — = 

  

Tn Ea 4 
v ee ie ey 27 EE pe : 3 

Sn lt orp TO nN pe FES “wi 

ht Td LN en 2 i Lg 

    

ages, for Tol le, said Willie, a igu oF fan ple, 

   

“Horeign “lan- 
be 

-said in an impassioned appeal for *court-appoi master in 

dees gation. 454 45% 1 the Boston desegregation plan in the 
ei ighborhood schools have noin- 1970s. Ag FAETEE. ETRE I 

trinsic Cay he said. There is ‘a’ ““*He also sug “creating bilin- 

need “to disassociate geography ; 
from education.” . A 

The plan would require ‘expensive 
improvements in Hartford schools, 
such as the creation of several spe- 
cialty high schools that would at- 
tract city and suburban students to 
programs emphasizing math and 

Cs An = = 
  

- gual schools, Montessori schools or 
schools that are linked with colleges, 
museums and businesses — all de- 

~ signed to promote the movement of 
‘schoolchildren ‘between city and sub- 
urbs. 

The pending lawsuit does not spec- 
ify any Solutions for desegregation, 

    

  

  

x et 

but Willies. “proposal was “a very 
revealing glimpse of a ‘concept;’& 
lan for discussion,” said John C:. 
pes , a University ‘of Corinecticut 

rofessor and one of the lawyers 
fo fk plaintiffs. Fp i} 

- Brittain, who was among Pa 
300 people at the conference, has 
said voluntary measures alone 
would not be enough to achieve de- 
segregation. 

Some panelists also said they 

Please see Educator, Page C11 

  

 



  

Continued from Connecticut Page 

doubted that voluntary steps would 

be sufficient. 

“We can design all the grand and 

glorious plans for voluntarism ... 

and it will be a drop in the bucket,” 

said Relic, who was West Hartford's 

superintendent of schools from 1980 

to 1987. 
State officials, including a com- 

mission formed by Gov. William A. 

O’Neill, have said they hope schools   

Educator says 
can be desegregated by voluntary 

means. 

Boston University political sci- 

ence professor Christine H. Rossell 

said mandatory desegregation plans 

have caused middle-class white peo- 

ple to flee cities more rapidly than 

voluntary plans have. 

Author J. Anthony Lukas, who 

chronicled Boston’s turbulent court- 

ordered desegregation case, said 

voluntary measures should be ex- 

  
  

desegregation unlikely 

plored. 
“Coercive desegregation doesn’t, 

in many of our cities, work very 

well,” he said. But he added, “My 

hunch is that voluntarism needs the 

fist of coercion lurking in the back- 

ground.” 
Desegregation failed in Boston 

largely because middle-class white 

people were able to flee the city for 

the suburbs, which were not included 

in the court order, said Lukas, the 

author of “Common Ground: A Tur- 

  

aah 

rv 

bulent Decade in the Lives of Three: 

American Families.” ae 

If the plaintiffs win the Connecti-,,. 

cut lawsuit, the solution undoubtedly: ++ 

would include all social classes, iD: 

cluding those who live in the suburbs. 

“The suburbs would no longer bee — 

sanctuary,” Lukas said. “White and-~ 

middle class flight would be more, 

difficult and more expensive.” man 

The forum was sponsored by ao-~ 

number of Hartford-area colleges, = 

education agencies and civic groups,.... 
RC adiial 

voluntary school 

 



  

  

  

i i 

Citation: Journal Twguirer 0 Mer idan 9. 
  

  

'g 

  

In a nutmeg 

Again, money for nothings 
~ By Lee Grabar 

"The explosion of teacher salaries that has severely 
"strained town budgets and ig¥payer pockets the past 

few years is soon to be followed by an explosion of a dif- 

ferent sort in the state's public schools, This will occur 

when the issue of school desegregation comes to a head 

- in the legislature and in the courts, 

The Commission on Quality and Integrated Educa- 
tion, named by Gov. William O'Neill a year ago, has 

just compieted its report on how the state can best 

achieve racial balance in the schools. Though its title 

mentions quality in education as well as integration, it 

is on the latter aspect that most of the commission's ef- 
forts were focused. 

The commission opted to recommend voluntary ef- 
forts on the part of school systems to achieve integra- 

tion, but much skepticism has been expressed and 
continues to be expressed, within the group itself as 
well as by others, that voluntary efforts will really 

work. ’ 

Commission member George Schatzki, a law pro- 

fessor at the University of Connecticut who proposed 

several courses of action during the commission's de- 

liberations. including the establishment of racial inte- 

gration quotas for the schools with the threat of loss of 
school grants as an enforcement measure, warned the 

other members the report as written ‘isn't going to do 

the job.‘ 

The report met with immediate criticism from an- 

other UConn law professor, John C. Brittain, a princi- 

pal lawyer in the Sheff case. Brittain, who has been 
monitoring the commission's work closely over the 
past year. does not believe that any proposal that falls 
short of massive exchanges of pupils between cities 

and suburbs will cure the problem. What he’s looking 

for is a ‘restructuring of urban education.’ Read that to 

mean a dismantling of traditional self-contained city 

and town school districts. 

V' Ata forum on school desegration held at Trinity Col- 

lége in Hartford last month, a Harvard University pro- 
fessor. Charles V. Willie, stated bluntly that 
‘neighborhood schools have no intrinsic value.’ The 
technique is apparent. Discredit the age-old neighbor- 
hood school concept and you might succeed in neutral- 

izing any serious Opposition to transporting school 

children beyond town lines, Weaken the support for 

rieighborhood schools and you're well on your way to- 
ward reshaping school district lines in any fashion you 

want. 

[TH 
Pay 

thn 

Parents are not likely to submit quietly to an grad- 
ication of the neighborhood school. At least at one ol jis 
public hearings. in Old Saybrook earlier this month, 
the comntiésion heard strong Srposiuon to any dilution 
of parental control of local school programs. While 

speakers acknowledged that integration is a valued 
goal, they insisted it should not be pursued through 
forced programs or to the detriment of quality. Jaid 

one parent: ‘The No. 1 priority should not be integra- 

tion. It should be parental involvement." He 

Perhaps the soundest words of advice givenethe 
commission came at a Hartford hearing when Marj U. 
Eberle. chairman of the Bloomfield Board of Educa- 
tion. pointed out improving substandard school”§¥s- 
tems and changing housing patterns in the state woud 

be the answer to improving the quality of educdtion 
and eradicating desegregation. She is absolutely right. 

Monkeying with school districts, as Brittain“and 
company advocate, would simply be another educatio- 

nai fad that would incur prohibitive costs and resolve 

nothing. Nor would putting a white or black childan a 

bus for an hour's ride to another town accomplish ayy 

thing but raise the wrath of parents. rd 

If the legislature or the courts go for cross-disirict 

enrollments. the busing would be massive. Hartfo 

School Superintendent Herman LaFontaine, whos 

tem has a 90 percent black enrollment, pointed ow 0 

the commission that to cut the minority represe tad 

to less than half. or 50 percent, would mean pufting 
neariy 22,000 children on buses each day - 11,000 [€dy- 
ing Hartford and 11.000 coming in from the subwur®s. 

And that is just Hartford. A 
It shouldn't be hard to realize that enorrweus 

amounts of money and energy would he spent ong. 

mechanics of sending children to school; money thex 
could be better spent on getting something into Ea 

heads. hy = 
fs the problem de facto segregation or is it the state 

of education itseif? If the courts get involved in brdk- 

ing up traditional school districts with forced busing 

programs, they will be instigating a major uph 

that is likely to involve communities as well as sc 

It could lead to trying, and perhaps confronlatiga 
times. In the end, the likelihood is strong that littlexsdl 

have been achieved in turning out better-educated ZF 
dren. Ep 

Then the educators would have to look for $52: 
thing else to blame for the continued decline of pul; 
schools. 

Lee Grabar is a veteran newspapecman and writes this 
column weekly. 

  

 



5 + 
Racial 
balance 
sought | 

| But state panel 
still split over 
forced measures 

By ROBERT A. FRAHM 
Courant /Educdtion Writer 
“JJ 1x/G0 Lr <L 

A state ion Thursday rec- 
ommended voluntary measures to 
reduce racial segregation in Con- 
necticut’s public schools, but left 

open the possibility of forcing 
schools to desegregate. 

In an uneasy compromise, a com- 

mission appointed by Gov. William 

{ A. O'Neill 2 that if voluntary. 
measures fail, “both voluntary and 

involuntary methods must then be 
considered.” 

After 15 months, the Governor’s 
Commission on Quality and Inte- 

grated Education remained funda- 

mentally split over whether ideas 

. such as specialty schools and volun- 

tary transfer programs would be 

sufficient to integrate some of the 

most segregated school systems in 

the nation. 
“We believe the present report... . 

isn't going to do the job,” University 

of Connecticut law professor George 

Schatzki said during a spirited four- 

hour debate as the commission 

worked to complete its report before 

a Dec. 31 deadline. : 

The report also drew criticism lat- 
er Thursday frost on of the Jewyers 

representing civil rights groups 

have filed a lawsuit seeking to force 

Connecticut's city and suburban 
schools to integrate. 

“I am reminded of Martin Luther 
_ King’s words: ‘How long must we 
wait?’ ” said John C. Brittain, who 

filed the suit last year charging that 

* the racial tion of Hartford's 
.~ schools violates. the state constitu- 
I” “tion. More than 90 percent of Hart- 

a Form we . 

  

Integration 
measures 
suggested 
Continued from Page 1 

the problem in 1965,” Brittain said, 
referring to a warning 25 years ago 
by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission 
that Connecticut's schools were 
growing increasingly segregated. 
++ (O’Neill’s commission was formed 
iast year, shortly after the lawsuit 
was filed. ge 2 
* Thursday's debate underscored 
the volatile nature of the desegrega- 
tion issue, with some commission 
‘members warning that any refer- 
ence to a forced solution could un- 
dermine the report’s basic recom- 
‘mendations. 
= “There are going to be people 
shooting us down, saying we are sub- 
tly recommending forced busing, 
forced integration,” said Abraham 
Glassman, chairman of the State 
Board of Education. 
"Glassman abstained from voting, 
as did state Sen. Kevin B. Sullivan, - 
D-West Hartford, and state Rep. 
Robert M. Ward, R-North Branford. 
All three said the report’s reference 
1 a possible forced solution goes too 
ar. 

_ Schatzki also abstained, saying 
‘the report does not go far enough. 

_ Among other things, the report 
_Says Connecticut should: 
© Create a state grant program 
that would help pay tuition and 
transportation costs for students 
who transfer from one system to 
another. Under the plan, a school 

_ system that sends a student out could 
- still count the child on its enrollment 
lists for state aid purposes, but 
‘would pay a portion of tuition to the 
system that receives the student. 

The state would set goals for in- 
creasing numbers of transfers each 
year, starting in the 1992-93 fiscal 
year. 

  

  
    

e 5; more money on volun- 
tary integration programs operated 
by neighboring school districts. The 
state will spend about $1 million to 
support 27 such programs this year, 

_- but the report recommends increas- 
- ing the budget to $2 million next year 
- and $3 million the following year. 
willl Pay for at least three model 
« regional integrated preschool pro- 
grams and change school construc- | 
* tion laws to provide extra state mon- 
~-gy for the construction or renovation 
< of buildings for preschool programs. 
~" e Establish regional magnet 
- schools with special programs de- 
« signed to attract children of differ- 
~.ent races from various towns. The 
report says state laws should be re- 
“vised to allow “generous funding for 

the construction, renovation or leas- 
ing of buildings” for such magnet 
schools. 

““ The commission expects to hold at 
'~ least one more meeting next week to 
«approve a cover letter for the report. 
Several members, including 
= Schatzki, urged the commission co- 
- chairmen, David G. Carter and 
James P. Sandler, to write a letter 
_conveying a sense of urgency. 
= “If the report goes through as it is, 
- it's kind of sterile,” said Henry Kel- 
-.ly, an elementary school principal 
~from Bridgeport. 
=. Carter and Sandler said the report 
-~should not recommend forced solu- 
‘tions because O’Neill’s charge to the 
--commission asked only for volun- 
~. tary methods. 
.— Besides that fundamental issue, 
=the commission faces other serious 
~ questions. How much can the state, 
plagued by a faltering economy, af- 
+ ford to pay for voluntary methods 
--that are certain to be expensive? 
And what happens after O'Neill 
“leaves office in January to be re- 
~placed by Gov.-elect Lowell P. 
=. Weicker Jr.? 
=: “We were appointed by a governor 
Who is no longer the governor, so we 
~-don’t even know what's going to hap- 
= pen to these recommendations, said 
~ Ramon A. Pacheco, a lawyer from 
« Hartford who urged fellow commis- 
* sion members to “put some teeth 
«into the recommendations.” 
“We have an opportunity to make 
a statement,” he said. 
== Despite the problems, Carter said 
~ he is confident the report will make a 
.. difference. J : 
*= “There is no way this report will 
- gather dust,” he said after the meet- 
ing. “Connecticut has always been a 
.State that is willing to dream dreams 
~~ and has always been willing to pay 
-. the price.” 

“AT