Was/is school busing a success or failure?
- Thread starter Bill
- Start date
Today in central city school districts the percentage of white students is about 10%. So, in the long run it was a failure. Bussing did not cause all of this but it contributed.
Life is Golden
It's Morning in America Again
I think it was a failure. All kids were sent all over town to schools far from their homes. What was it supposed to have accomplished?
cawacko
Well-known member
I’m admittedly confused why in 2019 we are talking busing from the 1970’s. Is this a policy we want to bring back? It doesn’t seem to have been all that popular and not sure it was all that successful. And we have heavily segregated schools still today.
Because at the Democratic debate Harris challenged Biden's civil rights credentials by saying he opposed bussing.
Any little statement like this gives the public and media the opportunity to challenge any little fact or criticize others. The media no longer has to research stories, they just wait around for somebody to hand the a story that will last for days or months. Failing to stand at a football game gave the media months of free conflict.
You believe "white flight" was part of the plan?? Via the state or Fed??
Very goood question, & that is what I am getting @...
What was it suppose to have accomplished & has it done so...
This started a heleVa long time ago & is still going on in some states/communities?? If it is worked, why can't I recall hearing any one touting it??
I honestly can't recall it?? Maybe years ago??
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cawacko
Well-known member
Very goood question, & that is what I am getting @...
What was it suppose to have accomplished & has it done so...
This started a heleVa long time ago & is still going on in some states/communities?? If it is worked, why can't I recall hearing any one touting it??
In SF we don’t have a busing system per se but what we did was essentially eliminate neighborhood schools. We created a lottery and you list your top choices but there’s not guarantee you’re getting your one of your top choices however. So the result is if you didn’t get your choice you either send your kid to private school or move out of the City. It’s why we have the smallest number of kids of any big city in the country.
The local joke is “what does every white kid in SF get for their fifth birthday?”
“A new Marin address”
We have some more desirable schools here as well, & some charter schools & some of them were difficult to get into etc but overall the area is pretty diverse.
Straight up lottery is going to always result in losers there??
Was busing much of a success overall??? In some instances?? Like Harris would say it worked for her?
Adolf_Twitler
Verified User
I can remember my mom and dad's reaction to it. Because what was proposed here was some kids from White neighborhoods were to be bussed over to schools in Black Neighborhoods so that they had room to bus in Black kids from the Black neighborhoods.
My Dad said, if they want to bring in Black children from anywhere to our schools, that's fine and dandy. But he said, there is no way my kids are going to be bussed off 10 miles away and be forced to attend classes in those schools, when all 3 levels of our schools were just a few blocks away.
So basically, all of the parents in our neighborhood said no!
As it turned out some Black children were bussed in to our schools, but I don't remember any my family or friends having to be bussed somewhere else.
We were glad to have them. The Black kids ended up as very popular kids in our schools and that all worked out great for everybody.
A few years later, our Dallas School District built better schools everywhere, so no matter where you lived, the schools were all equally about the same.
Was it a success, yes/no. The success came from building equally great schools in the poorest of neighborhoods.
My Dad said, if they want to bring in Black children from anywhere to our schools, that's fine and dandy. But he said, there is no way my kids are going to be bussed off 10 miles away and be forced to attend classes in those schools, when all 3 levels of our schools were just a few blocks away.
So basically, all of the parents in our neighborhood said no!
As it turned out some Black children were bussed in to our schools, but I don't remember any my family or friends having to be bussed somewhere else.
We were glad to have them. The Black kids ended up as very popular kids in our schools and that all worked out great for everybody.
A few years later, our Dallas School District built better schools everywhere, so no matter where you lived, the schools were all equally about the same.
Was it a success, yes/no. The success came from building equally great schools in the poorest of neighborhoods.
When mandated segregation finally ended schools remained segregated because black and white neighborhoods were still separate. Bussing was designed to integrate schools by bussing white kids to black schools and black kids to white schools. That was based on research presented in Brown v. Board that kids performed better when around middle class kids.
Adolf_Twitler
Verified User
Bussing around here went on until people agreed to pay better taxes so that good schools could be built in every neighborhood!
It was like a step in the process to better our education system and School District overall for everyone.
Now we have magnet schools available to kids in every district, and we also have the 2nd chance High Schools in every community.
So, Texas is Conservative when it comes to education. That is- until you see our Drop-Out rates. Texas is still trying to figure out how to improve that rate, as compared to better success rates in other states.
But it is not because of the quality of our schools and teachers.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
There should have been mandatory inner racial dating?
Busing was supposed to mix the races so the kids could get used to each other and if white kids had to go to substandard schools, there would be pressure to bring them up to standards. Instead, white people sent their kids to private or religious schools.
These were the day we knew that schools were separate and unequal.
These were the day we knew that schools were separate and unequal.
anonymoose
Classical Liberal
Really? I went to a public school in the '70's which was fairly proportional to the makeup of the population. My sister is a teacher, went back to the old school we went to , to teach, and said it's completely unmanageable. She said it's practically child abuse/neglect to send your kid to a public school. Private and parochial schools are booming in Louisiana.
No. The unstated purpose was to elevate school performance. Short bump as white flight soon took care of that.
cawacko
Well-known member
Maybe I should have been more specific and said it's a progressive argument that schools are still segregated. Admittedly I haven't fully read into this and looked at counter arguments to these articles.
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/25/yes-americas-schools-are-still-segregated_partner/
https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/5/10/18566052/school-segregation-brown-board-education-report
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opini...g-school-segregation-if-it-doesn-t-ncna978446
From my personal experience I'm thinking of Bay Area folks (with money) who move out of places like SF and Oakland to the suburbs where schools are less diverse.
So you base equality on the buildings, huh?