Repeating History:聽 The “New” Little Rock School District
By: Shay Randolph
The views expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Journal, the William H. Bowen School of Law, or 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.
During a panel discussion on public education, James Baldwin once said that 鈥渆ducation is a billion dollar industry and the least important part of that industry .鈥� Today, that statement still reigns true. The to return limited local control to Little Rock School district is not only ineffective but is problematic and divisive. The will consist of a board elected by the community that would only be responsible for the non-failing schools, while the failing schools, which happen to be the predominantly black schools with inadequate resources, would remain under the State鈥檚 control. Since , the State has assumed control of Little Rock鈥檚 public schools and that control has yielded very few improvements. The of Hall High School in Little Rock, AR, and the Little Rock School District鈥檚 new boundaries are going to racially divide students and . The district is closing J.A. Fair High School and McClellan high school and consolidating the . The students from these schools will be assigned to either Central High School, Hall High School, or the new high school鈥�. The boundaries are supposed to be ; however, once implemented the boundaries would place more African American and Hispanic children at Southwest High School. Southwest High School would be the only high school without a
Arkansas is nationally known for its failure to desegregate High School with deliberate speed, so the Little Rock School District鈥檚 new plan for a new high school, the transformation of another high school and new are going to result in history being repeated. Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958). This plan officiated by the Arkansas Board of Education further exemplifies 鈥渢oday鈥檚 methods of avoiding integration鈥� by further dividing the schools by race and continuing to perpetuate the 鈥�鈥� principle.
Hall High was opened in 1957 as the city鈥檚 second white high school. Two years later, integrated Hall High School, and like most schools that were integrated in the South, the white students left in large numbers. Today, Hall High School is known as one of the predominantly black high schools. In the school year, 629 of the students were African American; 338 were Hispanic, and 57 were white. The new plan for Hall High School would essentially funnel most of the minority students out and into Southwest High School. Many of the current students of Hall High School will not experience the improvements of the high school; the tiered system will segregate students and a community that is still mending from a history of desegregation of segregated schools and .
As I began with James Baldwin, I end with James Baldwin. 鈥淣ot everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be until it is faced.” The State鈥檚 takeover of the Little Rock School District, just months after the first time in history that the predominantly black district saw its first elected majority-, should be questioned. The State鈥檚 decision to take power away from the communities that send their children to these schools should be questioned. The State鈥檚 plan and how it affects every student should be questioned. Students should not remain in failing schools that are under the State鈥檚 control. Allotting some control to school boards should not be determinative of whether the school is failing when schools under the State鈥檚 control have yielded no success. The State鈥檚 plan to provide top-bottom intervention should be questioned, because history has made clear the effects of segregation. The Arkansas Board of Education鈥攕tate-appointed officials鈥攁nd elected leaders should think long and hard before repeating history, if not for anything else, for the well-being and success of the child, the most important thing in public education.