Educational Delusions?: Why Choice Can Deepen Inequality and How to Make Schools Fair

Synopsis

The First Major Battle Over School Choice Came Out Of Struggles Over Equalizing And Integrating Schools In The Civil Rights Era, When It Became Apparent That Choice Could Be Either A Serious Barrier Or A Significant Tool For Reaching These Goals. The Second Large And Continuing Movement For Choice Was Part Of The Very Different Anti-government, Individualistic, Market-based Movement Of A More Conservative Period In Which Many Of The Lessons Of That Earlier Period Were Forgotten, Though Choice Was Once Again Presented As The Answer To Racial Inequality. This Book Brings Civil Rights Back Into The Center Of The Debate And Tries To Move From Doctrine To Empirical Research In Exploring The Many Forms Of Choice And Their Very Different Consequences For Equity In U.s. Schools. Leading Researchers Conclude That Although Helping Minority Children Remains A Central Justification For Choice Proponents, Ignoring The Essential Civil Rights Dimensions Of Choice Plans Risks Compounding Rather Than Remedying Racial Inequality.--publisher's Description. Choice And Civil Rights: Forgetting History, Facing Consequences / Gary Orfield -- Choice Theories And The Schools / Gary Orfield -- The Promise Of Choice: Berkeley's Innovative Integration Plan / Erica Frankenberg -- Valuing Diversity And Hoping For The Best: Choice In Metro Tampa / Barbara Shircliffe And Jennifer Morley -- Designing Choice: Magnet School Structures And Racial Diversity / Genevieve Siegel-hawley And Erica Frankenberg -- A Segregating Choice? An Overview Of Charter School Policy, Enrollment Trends, And Segregation / Erica Frankenberg And Genevieve Siegel-hawley -- Failed Promises: Assessing Charter Schools In The Twin Cities / Myron Orfield, Baris Gumus-dawes, And Thomas Luce -- The State Of Public Schools In Post-katrina New Orleans: The Challenge Of Creating Equal Opportunity / Baris Gumus-dawes, Thomas Luce, And Myron Orfield -- The Story Of Meaningful School Choice: Lessons From Interdistrict Transfer Plans / Amy Stuart Wells, Miya Warner, And Courtney Grzesikowski -- School Information, Parental Decisions, And The Digital Divide: The Smartchoices Project In Hartford, Connecticut / Jack Dougherty, Diane Zannoni, Maham Chowhan, Courteney Coyne, Benjamin Dawson, Tehani Guruge, And Begaeta Nukic -- Experiencing Integration In Louisville: Attitudes On Choice And Diversity In A Changing Legal Environment / Gary Orfield And Erica Frankenberg -- Conclusion: A Theory Of Choice With Equity / Gary Orfield And Erica Frankenberg. [edited By] Gary Orfield And Erica Frankenberg And Associates. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 271-294) And Index.