By Jennifer Ju
Facing Ourselves
Jennifer Ju
There is nothing most parents would not do for their child. Most people have heard the phrase “mama bear” or “helicopter parent.” We can imagine ourselves taking a bullet for our child, shoving them out of the path of a speeding car and moving mountains if need be. We do so because deep love abounds when it comes to our children. We wish good health, happiness and security for them.
One way in which parents hope we can give our children these desirable outcomes is through quality education. It is no wonder, then, that what constitutes the “best” education is a topic rife with controversy and debate.
Diversity in schools, and how to achieve it, is one such area in education which many feel passionately about. Many see the Supreme Court opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, resulting in the legal end of decades of racial segregation in public schools, as indication that the quest for racial diversity has been accomplished. Others feel that segregation and “separate but equal” persist in various ways in academic institutions and other arenas to this day.
Although slavery was legally abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865, followed by the 14th and 15th amendments addressing citizenship and voting rights respectively, segregation continued to be widespread in schools and other public locations.
By 1896, “separate but equal” was perpetuated via the Supreme Court’s decision in the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case, in which the court provided a legal basis for segregation. Over 50 years later, the lower courts cited the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent as part of the rationale for ruling against the plaintiffs in five separate cases in which segregation was challenged at the elementary school level.
In 1952, these five cases were consolidated under Brown v. Board of Education and brought to the Supreme Court, presenting segregation as a national versus a regional issue. The Supreme Court rendered its unanimous opinion 1955, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson and its “separate but equal” philosophy, subsequently opening the door for desegregating America’s public schools.
Although segregation may no longer be as blatant, the data suggest that it exists in more subtle forms. One example came to Connecticut in 1989 in the Sheff v. O’Neill case. Several Hartford families alleged that students faced racial isolation and were not provided with equal access to a quality education.
Although the Connecticut Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs, concrete steps were not immediately outlined to rectify the situation. The state later proposed a plan involving magnet schools as one measure to reintegrate schools. This plan blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar project implementing magnet schools into the Hartford area.
The results achieved by magnet schools have been mixed. On one hand, test scores and graduation rates are higher at these schools compared to their neighboring traditional public school counterparts. On the other hand, the initial goal of having 100 percent of Hartford students enrolled in a magnet school or its equivalent has not been achieved, and a widening gap has developed between those fortunate enough to attend magnet schools or private schools, and those who are not.
The achievement gap is due in part to funding. The billions of dollars in state and local funding that were allocated for the educational system in Hartford were largely spent in creating and supporting magnet schools, leaving less money for traditional public schools.
The resulting underfunding of traditional public schools can be seen in run-down facilities, suboptimal school materials and difficulty in attracting qualified teachers. All these factors contribute to the demonstrated poor performance of these schools.
These poor schools stand in stark contrast to the high-tech amenities and new facilities in the magnet schools just a few miles away. Since enrollment in magnet schools is largely based on a lottery system, in some cases quality education appears to be more a matter of chance than choice.
The most recent Sheff v. O’Neill settlement, reached in January, proposes increasing investment and promoting expansion of magnet schools in the Hartford area as well as specifically helping those magnet schools who still struggle to meet diversity goals. But many argue that these measures are insufficient to address the issue of quality education for all and further destabilize an already weak public school system. The same criticism is made of those who choose to home-school or send their children to private schools.
Parents advocate for their children, and many choose their school options based on religion or based on other important factors and values. Hopefully, understanding the sticky legacy of school segregation will spark dialogue and encourage us to contemplate the following questions:
How much do we value education for our children? What is “best” for our children? Do we recognize and value the benefits of exposure to racial and socioeconomic diversity? Do we think it is important that all children have access to a high-quality education? Are some children more deserving than others? Are we aware of the depth and prevalence of the current education crisis in America? Do we care only about our children, or all children? What could possible solutions look like? What steps are we willing to take to be part of the solution?
Parents want what is best for their child. Many major world religions and wisdom traditions speak of expanding that viewpoint to include loving and serving all. What we do now impacts not only the present, but the future.
President John F. Kennedy said, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” What message about our beliefs and values are we sending to children now, and to future generations?
Jennifer Ju, MD is a physician who is a graduate of the Brown University family medicine residency program. She is also an actor and writer who has performed in various theatres across the state and whose plays have been produced locally. Ju has also presented numerous online and in-person workshops on mindfulness, health and wellness for parents and children, as well as for pre-K-12 educators in New Haven and Fairfield counties.