Brown’s critique of "Equal but Separate" effectively addresses Fineberg and Soltis’ question; "Do school standards maintain the separation of social classes?" Brown appropriately assesses this dilemma as one of costs versus benefits. Principal Shire is faced with the dilemma of how best to integrate inner city low socioeconomic, low achieving students into his suburban high achieving school. From the limited amount of information available in the case study, it appears that Shire and Andrews both want what is best educationally for students. The conflict appears to be in how to achieve what is best. Although is may appear as though Shire is reacting to the integration of his school as a functionalist would act, one should be reminded that Shire is an agent of the newly formed school district and may in fact be more philosophically aligned to Andrews. Acting in his role as district administrator, Andrews may be forced to implement the integration of his school in accordance with district philosophy not necessarily out of his own belief system.

The notion of school district consolidation can be an effective measure to ensure educational parity in a cost efficient manner. In theory, county school systems are not plagued by the provincialism inherent in small town school districts; however, such a restructuring involves extensive planning in terms of bringing together the powerholders and stakeholders to define the mission and goals of the new consolidated district. Within this case study, we see no evidence of such planning. Principal Shire appears unsure as to how exactly the Jefferson City students will be fully integrated into the system. It appears from the little we know of Ms. Andrews, she received no orientation to her new building or to the culture of the new school.

The integration of the Deerpark School mirrors many historical examples of the efforts of the U.S. government, state legislators, and local school districts to desegregate our public schools. Brown succinctly traces the history of school integration in the United States particularly in the South. However, racially segregated schools were not unique to the South. For many years, black and white children were taught in separate buildings in may communities throughout the north. For example, in West Cape May, New Jersey a town approximately 80 miles southeast of Widener University, two separate schools, one for whites and one for blacks, operated for years on opposite street corners of the predominately black community. A cursory review of Salem County, New Jersey’s educational history would leave the reader with the impression that public education was free and available to all children residing within the county's boundaries. However, a more careful study reveals that when the county’s first public school was established in 1850, a ‘mainstream’ education was reserved for white students, only. Although in Salem City, ‘colored’ children could attend the public school, they were housed in a separate wing of the school building. In 1897, a separate school was built exclusively for the education of colored children (Cushing & Sheppard, 1883).

In the 1930’s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began a crusade to end racial segregation in our nation’s schools. Little by little, states in the north began passing school desegregation legislation. But the practice of denying education to blacks from the Southern and Border States continued until 1954 with the publicity surround the Brown case. By the 1950’s racial segregation had become such a firmly embedded social institution, even the Supreme Court’s decision was difficult to enforce. Housing discrimination, which resulted in segregated neighborhoods, the gerrymandering of school district boundary lines, and the open encouragement of white children to leave predominately black schools allowed local districts to effectively ignore the federal government's ruling (Edgar, 1995).

Two subsequent pieces of federal legislation, the Civil Right’s Act of 1964 and The Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965 were intended to ensure compliance with federal and state desegregation mandates. The 1965 law provided, for the first time, federal aid to public schools; however, to qualify for aid schools must be in compliance with the provisions of the Civil Rights Act. Although such Civil Rights legislation continued to force the hand of local communities, integration of public schools did not end the practice of denying educational advantages to children of color.

Some districts willingly operated without federal aid standing solidly against the tide of assimilation. In Petersburg, Virginia the local government operated two high schools until 1970 when the all black Peabody High School was converted to a junior high school and students were integrated into the all white Petersburg High School. However, as Perkinson (1995) suggests, seating students side by side in integrated classrooms did not result in the racial harmony our legislators might have hoped for. In 1999, when the Class of 1971 of Petersburg High School held it 25^th reunion, only black students attended the gathering. The white students chose to attend the all white reunion held the year before by the class of 1970 (Separate school reunions, 1996).

Other districts although integrated in the 1950’s, established rigid academic tracking practices separating students by socioeconomic status, ultimately by race. The predominately black Atlantic City High School, in Atlantic City, New Jersey taught gifted and talented students on the third floor, effectively placing white children from the surrounding communities of Ventnor, Margate, and Longport on the top floor of the high school building physically separating these students from the inner-city children. On-going efforts to group students heterogeneously in Atlantic City met with much opposition from parents of academically advantaged students. The battle, played out daily in the editorial section of the Atlantic City Press, was finally subdued in the early 1990’s with the building of the new high school constructed in the round, an architectural style presenting an image of equality.

Madison County’s consolidation initiative, although noble in its intent is merely what Clabaugh and Rozycki (1997) would term a pseudo solution for a very complex problem. Transferring teachers and students to new schools where they continue to work in isolation from each other is a change in appearance only, avoiding the real risks inherent in restructuring schools. The Madison plan affects no real change in the availability of educational resources. Inner city children continue to be taught the presumably, non-challenging inner city curriculum by the same instructors who taught them in their home schools.

Shire needs to form a Strategic Planning Committee of staff, students, parents, and community members for the purpose of evaluating the progress of the consolidation plan throughout its first year. This committee might weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the present program and suggest ways to improve the program for the future. Brown’s suggestion of initiating team-teaching is an excellent solution aimed at bringing together students and teachers from two different and unique educational backgrounds. Shire might also consider establishing grade level teacher teams for the purpose of horizontal planning and implementation of the written and taught curriculum. Additionally, Shire could identify grade level expert teams in each of the content areas for the purpose of vertical articulation ensuring the development and delivery of a challenging scope and sequence of study. All teams should include Deerpark veterans along with new staff from Jefferson City. Such a plan could create multiple opportunities for teachers to meet, plan, and implement quality educational programs for all of Deerpark’s students.

Shire’s concerns appear to be centered on the dichotomy between the achievement levels of the Jefferson City and Deerpark students. Shire might consider creating a ‘summer bridge’ of planned learning experiences for students, Deerpark and Jefferson City, identified as ‘at risk’. The curriculum of the summer school program would focus on extending learning from the previous school year while offering a link to the upcoming school term. The goal of this program would be to increase the likelihood that students would find success in the newly integrated classrooms.

Although not overtly discussed, one can assume the residents of Sylvan have serious concerns over the integration of the Deerpark School. Shire must organize activities aimed at bringing parents from Sylvan and Jefferson City together for a common purpose. Shire might establish a parents-as-learners network in which teachers engage parents in the types of curriculum based activities students participate in regularly in their classrooms. Additionally, Shire might create a Parent Resource Center within the school’s Media Center to house curriculum guides, lesson plans, and reference materials promoting positive parenting skills.

As suggested previously, consolidation requires an extensive strategic plan clearly outlining the mission and goals of the new district. Within each building, detailed courses of action must be developed to ensure that the physical movement of students and teachers results in the desired outcomes-cognitive, emotional and social.

Clabaugh, G. C., & Rozycki, E. G. (1997). Analyzing controversy: An introductory guide. Boston: Dushkin/McGraw Hill.

Cushing, T., & Sheppard, C. E. (1883). History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland, NJ with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.

Edgar, E. E. (1965). Social foundations of education. New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education, Inc.

Perkinson, H. J. (1995). The imperfect panacea: American faith in education. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Separate school reunions illustrate strained race relations: Blacks and whites feel excluded by the other. (1996, August 4). The Dallas Morning News, p.15A.

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