Milton, Massachusetts wrestles with student assignment issues
Five decades ago, federal courts began forcing reluctant districts to use race-based assignments to integrate schools. But in June, a bitterly divided Supreme Court reversed course, concluding that two race-based enrollment plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle were unconstitutional. Milton, Massachusetts is the latest school district to enter the fray over student assignment plans. Milton, just south of the Boston city line, is a town of 26,000. Milton's black population is concentrated in the northwest section of town and the student body at Tucker elementary school, which serves this area, is 65% nonwhite while minority representation at the three other elementary schools in town averages about 17%. Test scores at these schools are generally 20% higher than those at Tucker. Last summer, a group of parents started pressing school superintendent Magdalene Giffune to narrow the achievement gap. Dr. Giffune, who shares their concerns, believed the answer partly lay in better integrating Milton's schools.
In December, the school board named a 24-member Student Assignment Committee, made up of parents, teachers and school officials. In the meantime, the Supreme Court held oral arguments and Milton school officials paid close attention, realizing the Court was leaning toward striking down race-based assignments. As a result, the committee found itself trying to balance two seemingly opposing missions: improving diversity while also making its assignments "race neutral." To do that, the committee devised three alternative plans, none of which required consideration of a student's racial background. The first, called the "consolidation" plan, called for grouping all second- through fifth-grade students together in a single campus. The second "sister schools" plan would also group children town-wide in a slightly different arrangement. A third choice, called "neighborhood schools," kept students at the four schools, but with different attendance boundaries.
In April, the school board voted for the neighborhood school plan. To determine how many streets would be reassigned, school officials used a computer program that considered such factors as the addresses of children attending Milton public schools and school building capacities. In June, the school board voted on the 38 streets whose students would be reassigned to new schools. While the racial make-up of students was not considered, some in white neighborhoods were switched to Tucker. Some minority-heavy streets previously belonging to Tucker were switched to Glover, which is 87% white. But the plan made the switch gradual. The assignments only applied to new students, allowing those already enrolled last year to stay where they were. Despite those efforts, Ms. Giffune says most of the white families reassigned to Tucker elected to send their children to private school instead.
One of them is Mr. Keating, a real-estate broker. His street had previously been assigned to the Cunningham School, which has a 20% minority enrollment, less than a third that of Tucker. Although he says his objections have nothing to do with any racial bias and that he supported consolidating the schools. Mr. Keating has been looking for other parents in his neighborhood to join him in seeking a restraining order from federal court to quash the reassignment plan. Nevertheless, there has been no change in Tucker's racial mix this year. School officials point out that is largely because of the grandfathering exceptions in the redistricting plan, white rejection of the school and heavy minority enrollment. Drew Echelson, Tucker's principal, says the school is moving to improve its academic performance. It is offering full-day kindergarten instead of the half-day offered at the other schools. The staff is visiting students' homes prior to the start of the new school year to encourage greater parental participation and Tucker teachers have formed a collaborative designed to boost teaching skills. Test scores for 2007 are already showing improvement.
Wall Street Journal By Joseph Pereira
[Editor’s Note: Information on the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision, PICS v. Seattle School District No. 1, in other communities is available starting below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Wake County student diversity policy