The Following Quotes Are Taken From Blackboard Vista: Folder 13

Quote 1-“The Seattle School District allowed students to apply to any high school in the District. Since certain schools often became oversubscribed when too many students chose them as their first choice, the District used a system of tiebreakers to decide which students would be admitted to the popular schools. The second most important tiebreaker was a racial factor intended to maintain racial diversity. If the racial demographics of any school's student body deviated by more than a predetermined number of percentage points from those of Seattle's total student population (approximately 41% white and 59% non-white), the racial tiebreaker went into effect.” Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) 

I think it is important for students to choose which high school they want to apply to. It gives students hope about having a successful high school career. However, even though students are applying to specific schools it doesn’t mean they will be accepted. The tiebreaker helps to make the schools more diverse and equal for students. To be honest I am not sure I how feel about this tiebreaker rule that is being applied. Yes, I strongly believe that schools need to be diverse, but I am not sure if this is the right way to go about it.

Quote 2-“MARTIN: Why was it so important for your daughter to go to Ballard High School?

Ms. BROSE: My daughter was, you know, denied access to three different schools. And we would have been satisfied with not her first choice, but her second or her third choice. But she was actually assigned to her fourth choice. And that didn't work out, so she actually went to her fifth choice. But the reason that we wanted Ballard as our first choice because it is the school that is closest to our home.”  NPR: Supreme Court Revisits School Segregation

I think that many families want their children to be enrolled in good schools that are located near their homes like Ms. Brose describes. I think that if Seattle wants to use this tiebreaking system to make their schools diverse, then they should at least students their top three choices. This is a very hard process for the schools to figure out how to divide students, create diversity, and to keep everyone happy at the same time. I give them credit for trying, but again I am not sure the tiebreaking strategy is the right system to determine each child’s high school education fate. Perhaps, the reason being the tiebreaking strategy reminds me of the lotto system that is used to determine if children are accepted or denied to charter schools.

Quote 3-“MARTIN: What do you make of the district's position that diversity is an important educational goal, and that these are among the steps that are necessary to ensure that diversity is achieved?

Ms. BROSE: Well, first of all, I want to say that we're not against diversity. We like diversity. We're in the public schools. Our argument is that there is lots of diversity in our schools without using the racial tiebreaker and that, you know, diversity means more than skin color and that, you know, the school district was really looking at having a ratio of white versus nonwhite kids. And the way they used the tiebreaker was clearly a form of discrimination.” NPR: Supreme Court Revisits School Segregation

I agree with Ms. Brose statement that diversity is more than just skin color; it is about economics, religion, beliefs, traditions, everything about one’s culture and ethnicity. I that Seattle’ district is really trying to create diversity and equality for all children, but if they are only focusing on skin color than that is not right. Because then the district is discriminating against certain skin colors. For instance in this case Ms. Brose believes they are discriminating against white, because her daughter could not get into her top three choices.

Quote 4-“LARRY ABRAMSON: The student in this case remains anonymous, known only as T.A. in court documents. But his story is a familiar and painful one to parents and educators. As a high school student he began having attention problems. The Forest Grove School District near Portland, Oregon evaluated him but decided he did not qualify for special education help. The family's attorney, Mary Broadhurst, says this is exactly when the school district should've jumped in.” NPR: Supreme Court Rules on Special Education Case

In my special education class here at CCSU, I learned that parents really have to fight school systems if they believe that their child is not receiving the assistance they need. It is sad to say that some school systems don’t always want to put the extra money into a child if they feel like that child does not need help, when in reality they do. If I were the parents of this child, I too would have pulled my child out from the school because clearly the administration was not doing their part. It is the teacher’s job to notice patterns in students and to do everything in their power to help children and parents. I wonder in this case if the teacher was supportive of the child’s needs.

Quote 5-“Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Brown v. Board of Education

When discussing the picture of Ruby, in class with Dr. Clark  we talked about all the hardship she went to when schools became integrated. It was all happy and dandy right away it required a ton of effort, trial and error on everyone’s part. As a country we have come a long way in creating equality for all. However we still need to create more equality in our school systems. Over the years our schools have become more and more segregated due to demographics, economic status, and race; we see think in Kozol’s book and also in Joel Spring’s book. I think we can change this through reform in the education system. 

Quote 6-“In 1971, the San Francisco Unified School District attempted to desegregate the school system by reassigning pupils attending segregated schools to other public schools. The School District submitted a comprehensive plan for desegregation which the District Court approved. Some Chinese parents protested the move, because in the Asian schools the students could learn about their cultural heritage, and they would lose this if they went to public schools.”  Guey Heung Lee v. Johnson

I understand both sides of this court case. It is important for our nation to have integrated schools because it provides equality in the education system. However, I also understand why the parents want their children to learn about their heritage. Both sides of this case are important, but I think it is more important for schools to become desegregated. With this issue it is more important for all students to have an equal education.