UCLA Civil Rights Project Issues Report on Desegregation After PICS Decision

The UCLA Civil Rights Project (CRP) has recently issued a memorandum on school desegregation efforts since the US Supreme Court issued its controversial decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 in 2007. While the Court reaffirmed the importance of diversity in the nation's schools, it barred the school districts from using race or ethnicity as the sole factor in making student school assignments.

The Civil Rights Project at UCLA has issued a memo, "Two Years after the PICS Decision: Districts’ Integration Efforts in a Changing Climate," which details examples of major trends CRP identified in districts' actions regarding diversity in the post-PICS era. In its email, the CRP explains:

In our efforts to understand and assist districts with their
efforts to create and maintain diverse schools, the CRP has tracked news
articles about policy changes districts have made or contemplated. In the
2008-09 school year, we documented the release of 305 news articles related to
student assignment, diversity, magnet schools, or budget cuts. This
documentation reflects current news stories from school districts across 35
states, in 95 city and suburban districts alike. Here, we include examples of
major trends we identified in districts’ actions regarding diversity. In
general, the articles indicate that districts are making changes in student
assignment policies and/or school budget priorities, and many articles reflect
the community or parent reactions to these changes.
While this is not a
comprehensive analysis of how districts are responding to the 2007 Supreme Court
decision about school integration or tightening school budgets, it does reflect
major themes that districts are confronting as they strive to balance important
goals. We first describe districts making changes to their diversity policies in
a way that furthers the goal of racial integration; we then list examples of
districts whose integration efforts have been constrained by the budget crisis
(mainly focusing on impacts on transportation and magnet schools). We conclude
with updates on districts with student assignment policy changes and districts
that have recently had desegregation orders lifted.

For a copy of the memo, go to: http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/deseg/districts_integration_efforts_in_a_changing_climate.pdf