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Show AFTER BROWN: THE CHALLENGE TO ATTAIN AN EQUAL UNITARY EDUCATION SYSTEM Jessica Shulsen paragraphs, white attitudes also play a role in segregation. A 1980 survey found that 40 percent of whites would be willing to support a law, which states "a homeowner cannot refuse to sell to someone because of their race or skin color" (Massey 1993, 92). It is ironic that 60 percent of white people would refuse to support a law that has been on the books for over a decade. Even more telling are the results of the Detroit Area Survey of white respondents. One-fourth of whites responded that they would be unwilling to enter a neighborhood with a black composition of eight percent and 73 percent of respondents would refuse to live in a neighborhood that was 36 percent African-American (Massey 1993, 93). These attitudes only compound the problems of segregation. The combination of high residential segregation, the Supreme Court's retreat from its commitment to desegregation, and changes in the population has lead to increased segregation in public schools. One may immediately cite "white flight"- whites fleeing the city for the suburbs- as a contributing factor of minority inner city schools and white suburban schools, but that is only part of the change in demographics. While the United States was busily dismantling desegregation plans, most failed to notice that minority enrollment was increasing while white enrollment was decreasing. Public and private enrollment in elementary and secondary schools reached an all time high in 1998 with 52.7 million children. Enrollment is expected to increase 11 percent by 2008 (U.S. Department of Education 1999). This increase reflects changes in minority birthrates and immigration, rather than changes in the demographics of the white population. White student enrollment decreased 14 percent between 1972 and 1992 (Orfield et al. 1996, 62) and the Department of Education expects that trend to continue. In the next twenty years, it projects an 11 percent decrease in enrollment (U.S. Department of Education 1999). African-American enrollment in public schools has gradually increased three percent from 1972 to 1992 (Orfield et al. 1996, 62). The Department of Education expects that gradual increase to continue over the next two decades ( U.S. Department of Education 1999). If the white enrollment is dropping and black in enrollment is slowly increasing, one may ask where the substantial increase in enrollment is coming from. The answer lies in a group that is far too often overlooked. Latino student enrollment has been increasing since 1970 (U.S. Department of Education 1999). Between 1972 to 1992 Latino enrollment has increased 89 percent (Orfield et al. 1996, 62). Within the next twenty years the Department of Education projects Hispanic enrollment to increase 60 percent for children aged fourteen to seventeen and 47 percent for children aged five to thirteen (U.S. Department of Education 1999). This has major repercussions for the American public school system. In 1996, 36 percent of students enrolled in public schools were considered part of a minority group, a 12 percent increase since 1972. That percentage is projected to soar in the next few decades (U.S. Department of Education 1996). Inner city schools will be affected the most by the expected increase. In 1996 black students accounted for one out of every three students who lived in central cities, which is about the same percentage since 1970. Hispanics, on the other hand, went from accounting for one out of every ten in 1972 to one out of every four in 1996 (U.S. Department of Education 1999). In other words, Hispanics increased from 10.8 percent of students in inner-city schools in 1972 to 25 percent in 1996. They will soon be the largest minority group in public schools (U.S. Department of Education 1999). Thus, inner city Latinos are becoming more segregated from whites than African-Americans are (Orfield et al. 1996, xiii). The increasing number of minority students, the Supreme Court's reluctance to integrate schools that are de facto segregated, and intense residential segregation have made inferior and separate schools inevitable. THE MODERN DUAL SCHOOL SYSTEM: INNER CITY v. SUBURBAN SCHOOLS The face of the American public school system is changing. This new face is one of a de facto separate-and-unequal school system that consists of inner city and suburban schools. Just as the de jure separate-but-equal school system was not truly equal, the de facto segregated school system is not equal. Inner city schools are plagued with poverty because the local communities are usually poor. In fact, neighborhood poverty has increased since 1970 (Jargowsky 1996, 143). Median family income made no real gains in the 1970s, then a small increase in the 1980s, but it dropped between 1989 and 1993. In 1993, median family income for whites was $39,300, for African-Americans $24,542, and for Hispanics $23,654- Today both African-Americans and Hispanics make 60 percent of the median white family income. In addition, Hispanic and black children are more than twice as likely as white children to live in poverty (U.S. Department of Education 1999). Having less money to tax means less tax revenue, and thus less money for local schools because the local government finances on average 44 percent of the local school' s budget (Linn 1998, 1). Therefore, inner city schools receive significantly less money than suburban schools. Moreover, inner city schools have more students. Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that for the 1993-94 school year the average inner city school size was 1,083 compared to 973 students in suburban schools (Choy 1997, 13-4). Inner city schools often face budget crises as well as difficulty finding qualified principals and teachers. Generally, teachers often avoid teaching in high poverty, inner city schools not because they do not wish to help, but rather they are assailed with a host of problems that they cannot solve. Factors such as family income, family structure, and parent's level of education also have a profound influence on a child's educational opportunities (U.S. Department of Education 1996). This places minority students in inner city 68 |