1. LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
1 “EAST OF ANYWHERE”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
2 98 PERCENT BLACK: James D. Nowlan, “Report on the Potential for Civic Reform in East St. Louis, Illinois,” a memorandum to Thomas Berkshire, assistant to Illinois Governor James Thompson, June 30, 1989.
3 NO OBSTETRIC SERVICES: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 1989.
4 NEARLY A THIRD OF FAMILIES LIVE ON LESS THAN $7,500: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 1989. 75 PERCENT ON WELFARE: New York Times, April 4, 1991. Also see St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22–28, 1988 (series on East St. Louis); Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat, February 20–27, 1988 (series on East St. Louis); Illinois Times, February 2–8, 1989.
5 “MOST DISTRESSED SMALL CITY IN AMERICA”: Memo of Thomas Berkshire (assistant to Illinois Governor James Thompson) to the Municipal Bankruptcy Task Force, November 30, 1988. only three of 13 buildings, etc.: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
6 RATE OF CHILD ASTHMA: According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (May 14, 1989), the frequency of asthma in East St. Louis is not only higher than in white communities of Illinois but 53 percent higher than among black populations elsewhere in the state.
7 “AMERICA’S SOWETO”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 23, 1989; Illinois Times, February 2, 1989; conversation with St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Patrick Gauen.
8 1,170 EMPLOYEES LAID OFF: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
9 HEATING FUEL, TOILET PAPER: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 1989.
10 ALL BUT 10 PERCENT OF EMPLOYEES MAY BE LAID OFF: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 24, 1989.
11 CITY HALL AND FIRE STATION MAY BE SOLD: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 25, 1989.
12 CITY HALL IS LOST IN COURT JUDGMENT: Boston Globe, September 29, 1990.
13 HIGHEST PROPERTY-TAX RATE IN THE STATE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
14 GARBAGE, THREAT OF CHEMICAL SPILLS, ETC.: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
15 CHEMICAL SPILL AT MONSANTO: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 31, 1988.
16 GOVERNOR JAMES THOMPSON AND REPUBLICAN STATE LEGISLATOR: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 1989.
17 ILLINOIS POWER COMPANY SUPERVISOR: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
18 BLUFFS AND BOTTOMS, SEWAGE, FLOODING: James Nowlan cited above.
19 TUNICA, MISSISSIPPI: Wall Street Journal, October 13, 1989.
20 VILLA GRIFFIN, SEWAGE, AND HEALTH DANGERS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 16 and 19, 1989. Also see St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 17 and March 15, 1989.
21 SEWAGE PROBLEMS, CHEMICALS, LEAD POISONING, CONTAMINATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 2, 1989.
22 INTERVIEWS WITH CHILDREN AND POST-DISPATCH REPORTER: March 1990.
23 CHEMICAL PLANTS PAY NO TAXES TO EAST ST. LOUIS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 23, 1988.
24 POPULATION OF SAUGET: Newsweek, April 16, 1990; James Nowlan, cited above; St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Safir Ahmed.
25 FLOODGATE BROKE, BOND AVENUE, ETC.: St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Patrick Gauen.
26 GREENPEACE STUDY: “We All Live Downstream: The Mississippi River and the National Toxics Crisis,” Greenpeace, December 1989.
27 DEAD CREEK: James Nowlan cited above; also, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters Safir Ahmed and Patrick Gauen.
28 TELEPHONE DIRECTORY: The “Metro East” directory for the area east of St. Louis, printed by Heritage Publishing Co., does not list East St. Louis numbers. “I surmise,” says St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Patrick Gauen, “that the company finds it easier to sell advertising if East St. Louis is omitted.” Also see James Nowlan, cited above.
29 LIFE MAGAZINE: Special issue on race, Spring 1988.
30 HEALTH AND HOSPITAL STATISTICS, FOOD EXPENDITURES, UNDER-IMMUNIZATION, HOMICIDE RATE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 1989.
31 “THE HEAT CAN BRING OUT THE BEAST”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1988.
32 “EVACUATION PLAN”: James Nowlan cited above.
33 HISTORY OF EAST ST. LOUIS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 23, 1989.
34 FLOODING OF SCHOOLS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 15, 21, and 29 and April 28, 1989.
35 TEACHER LAYOFFS AND SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 15, 21, and 24, 1989.
36 GOVERNOR THOMPSON’S COMMENTS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 1989.
37 GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES GRANT FOR SEWER IMPROVEMENT: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 1989.
38 TEACHERS’ PAYCHECKS DELAYED, ETC.: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 16 and April 2, 1989.
39 ILLINOIS BOARD OF EDUCATION ASSUMES FINANCIAL SUPERVISION: Belleville News-Democrat, December 20, 1988.
40 STATE SUPERINTENDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF STATE BOARD CITED: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1989.
41 SPORTS FACILITIES: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 23, 25, 26, and 28, 1989. A new football stadium is under construction in 1991, according to teachers at the school.
42 FOOTBALL COACH, TEACHERS, STUDENTS, PRINCIPAL, SUPERINTENDENT QUOTED: Author’s interviews, March 1990.
43 SOLOMON’S ESTIMATES FOR GRADUATION RATES AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: According to a “School Report Card” issued by the Illinois Department of Education, 32 percent of students at East St. Louis High are in college preparatory courses and the graduation rate is 65 percent. Discrepancies between official figures and the estimates of teachers are familiar in most urban systems.
44 LANDSDOWNE AND KING JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS, EAST ST. LOUIS HIGH SCHOOL, ETC.: St. Louis Sun, November 3 and 5, 1989.
45 ONE FULL-COLOR WORKBOOK: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 26, 1989.
46 SPENDING IN EAST ST. LOUIS SCHOOLS COMPARED TO SPENDING IN NEARBY DISTRICTS AND TO STATE’S TOP-SPENDING DISTRICTS.: Illinois State Board of Education, “Illinois Public Schools Financial Statistics, 1986–1987 School Year” (Springfield: 1988). Also see per-pupil spending figures for Chicago suburbs on pages 66 and 89 to 90 and notes for page 69.
47 CUTS IN SCHOOL PERSONNEL DEMANDED BY STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 15, 1989.
2. OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN
1 DESCRIPTION OF NORTH LAWNDALE: The American Millstone: An Examination of the Nation’s Permanent Underclass, by the staff of the Chicago Tribune, a collection of articles that ran originally in the Tribune (Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1986).
2 REVEREND JIM WOLFF CITED: The American Millstone; author’s interview, March 1990.
3 “NEARLY 1,000 INFANTS …”: Chicago Reporter, May 1990.
4 BETHUNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Author’s interviews, October 1990.
5 MANLEY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE: Report of the Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, April 24, 1985; author’s interview with G. Alfred Hess, executive director of Chicago Panel, March 1991.
6 COLLEGE AND PRISON STATISTICS: “Chicago Schools: Worst in America,” a seven-month series by Bonita Brodt and other reporters of the Chicago Tribune (Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1988), identified hereafter as “Tribune series.” Also see The American Millstone.
7 PRINCIPALS HAVE NO CHOICE ABOUT ACCEPTING TENURED TEACHERS: Under Chicago’s recent school reforms, this policy has changed somewhat and teachers may more easily be removed from classrooms.
8 NUMBER OF TEACHERS OVER 60 YEARS OF AGE: Tribune series.
9 SUBSTITUTES REPRESENT MORE THAN ONE QUARTER OF CHICAGO FACULTY: Of 28,675 teachers in the system in 1988, 7,294 were substitutes, of whom 4,350 taught on a permanent basis. (Tribune series.)
10 5,700 CHILDREN IN 190 CLASSROOMS: Tribune series.
11 NEARLY TWICE THE STUDENT POPULATION OF NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL: New Trier enrollment was 2,913 students in the 1988–1989 school year. (“Information for College Admissions Counselors 1988–1989,” New Trier High School, Winnetka, 1989).
12 DU SABLE HIGH SCHOOL: Tribune series.
13 SOUTH SHORE HIGH SCHOOL: Chicago Reporter, September 1984. Three years later, despite considerable adverse publicity, there had been only slight improvement. Of 770 entering freshmen, only 204 graduated with their class. (Chicago Reporter, January 1987.)
14 CALUMET AND BOWEN HIGH SCHOOL: Tribune series.
15 LATHROP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: The American Millstone. A library has been constructed since this series was published.
16 SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT AND CHICAGO MAYORS DID NOT SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO PUBLIC SCHOOL, AND COMMENTS OF FORMER GOVERNOR JAMES THOMPSON: Tribune series.
17 SCARCITY OF SUBSTITUTES GROWS MORE ACUTE IN MAY: Tribune series.
18 DROPOUT RATE OF NEARLY 50 PERCENT: In the past five years, the Chicago Tribune has on various occasions placed the high school dropout rate at 55 percent (The American Millstone), 48 percent and “nearly 50 percent” (both in Tribune series), and at 43 percent (column by Clarence Page, November 15, 1987). The Chicago Sun-Times (November 1, 1988) and USA Today (September 29, 1989) placed the number at 50 percent.
19 PER-PUPIL SPENDING IN CHICAGO AND NEW TRIER DISTRICTS: In 1989, according to G. Alfred Hess of the Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, Chicago spent $5,265 for each student; because more money is spent, in high school than in elementary school, the figure is adjusted here to $5,500. In the same year, according to Hess, New Trier High School spent above $8,500 and Niles High School spent above $9,000 (author’s interview, April 1991). Also see “Illinois Public Schools Financial Statistics,” published annually by the Illinois State Board of Education.
20 DISCUSSION OF SCHOOL FUNDING: See notes for pages 251 to 254. For matters specific to Illinois, I have relied upon discussions with George Alan Hickrod and Larry Frank of the Center for the Study of Educational Finance, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, and with G. Alfred Hess of the Chicago Panel on Public School Policy and Finance, 1990 and 1991.
21 POOR COMMUNITIES TEND TO TAX HIGH, SPEND LOW: “Chicago schools are poor because the city itself is poor.… Overall, suburban tax rates have to be only half as large as Chicago’s to raise the same amount of money.” (Tribune series.)
22 FEDERAL PROPERTY-TAX AND MORTGAGE-INTEREST DEDUCTIONS AND FEDERAL GRANTS TO LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Office of Management and Budget, the White House, 1986; Congressional Budget Office, 1986.
23 JONATHAN WILSON, COUNCIL OF URBAN BOARDS OF EDUCATION: Conversations with author, March 1991.
24 ADDED BURDEN FACED BY CITIES: “The total property tax rate in Chicago,” according to the Chicago Tribune (1988), “is just over $10.35 per $100 assessed value, one of the highest in Cook County, but only 36 percent of that goes to schools.” In the suburbs, by comparison, “school taxes make up an average of about 60 percent” of the total property tax rate. “We pay a fantastic amount for police and fire protection in Chicago …,” says G. Alfred Hess of the Chicago panel on School Policy and Finance. “This city is in the cruel box of having to decide which services to provide to poor families.” (Tribune series.)
25 FEDERAL AND STATE CONTRIBUTIONS: Author’s interviews with Harold Howe II, former U.S. Commissioner of Education, and G. Alan Hickrod, February and March 1991.
26 STATES PAY ROUGHLY HALF OF SCHOOL EXPENDITURES: The extreme exceptions are New Hampshire, where the state provides almost no aid, and Hawaii, where the state pays 92 percent of school expenditures. (Boston Globe, February 9, 1991.)
27 EXTREMES OF HIGH AND LOW SPENDING IN ILLINOIS: Education Equity Coalition (Chicago Urban League, Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, and League of Women Voters of Illinois), “The Inequity in Illinois School Finance” (Chicago: January 1991); also Illinois School Law Quarterly, January 1991. According to the New York Times (December 19, 1990), “Overall spending per student among districts in Illinois ranges from $2,100 to nearly $10,000, and this gap is growing.”
28 “THE APPEARANCE OF CALCULATED UNFAIRNESS”: John E. Coons, William H. Clune III, and Stephen D. Sugarman, Private Wealth and Public Education (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970). Coons is the senior author of this work.
29 “VICTIM-THINKING”: See for example, Shelby Steele, The Content of Our Character (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990).
30 “THESE KIDS ARE AWARE OF THEIR FAILURES”: Tribune series.
31 CHILDREN’S ABSENCES, REVEREND CHARLES KYLE, AND TRIBUNE’S ESTIMATE OF “ACTUAL” DROPOUT RATE: Tribune series. G. Alfred Hess, of the Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, believe that the Chicago Tribune estimate (“close to 60 percent”) is high and would place the actual figure at 47 to 50 percent. Dropout figures for students who go from nonselective elementary schools to nonselective high schools often far exceed these estimates, however. At several nonselective high schools, dropout rates are in the area of 75 percent.
32 ANDERSEN, MCKINLEY, WOODSON, BETHUNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1987; also G. Alfred Hess, interview with author, March 1991.
33 READING LEVELS CITYWIDE AND AT 18 HIGH SCHOOLS WITH HIGHEST RATES OF POVERTY: Don Moore, Executive Director, Designs for Change, interviews with author, 1990 and 1991; “The Bottom Line” (Chicago: Designs for Change, 1985).
34 COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATISTICS: Jack Wuest of the Alternative Schools Network, interview with author, March 1990.
35 CHICAGO’S MAGNET AND SELECTIVE SCHOOLS: Tribune series.
36 DISPUTE SURROUNDING SOUTH LOOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: New York Times, April 2, 1989; Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1989. Since the events described here, I am told that South Loop Elementary School has canceled the restrictions placed on children from the projects. As a result, most of the families from the new development have removed their children.
37 “CHOICE” PLAN IN EAST HARLEM: Deborah Meier, “Choice Can Save Public Education,” The Nation, March 4, 1991.
38 GOUDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: The portrait of the school in 1988 and the dialogue with Keisha are based upon an article by Chicago Tribune reporter Bonita Brodt, Tribune series. For significant changes at Goudy two years later, see my visit to the school on pages 83 to 84.
39 NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL: Gene I. Maeroff, “Let’s Hear It for New Trier,” Town and Country, June 1986; Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1989; “Program of Studies, 1989–1990” and other documents provided by New Trier High School; author’s conversations with New Trier High School graduates, 1989 and 1990. Earlier background material on New Trier High School: Washington Post, October 12, 1980.
40 GOUDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASS SIZE: Tribune series.
41 WORTH OF TAXABLE PROPERTY PER PUPIL: G. Alfred Hess, author’s interview, April 1991.
42 SUBURBAN RESIDENTS OPPOSE REDISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOL FUNDING: “By a nine-to-one ratio,” according to the Chicago Tribune, “suburban residents oppose any effort to get them to pay more for city schools, and only a third of the suburbanites think a lack of funds is a major city school problem.” According to G. Alfred Hess of the Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, legislative representatives of the suburban districts “are the worst of the no-more-money-for-the-schools people.” (Tribune series.)
43 CHICAGO SCHOOL REFORM: Author’s conversations with G. Alfred Hess, John McDermott, Don Moore, Jack Wuest, William Ayers, Chicago Tribune reporters Bonita Brodt and Karen Thomas, and Chicago teachers Robin Cohen and Quinn Brisben, 1989 to 1991.
44 IMPROVEMENTS AT GOUDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Interviews at the school, March 1990.
45 DU SABLE HIGH SCHOOL: Interviews at the school, March 1990; Du Sable High School yearbook and “School Report Card,” 1989; “Where’s Room 185?” (a publication of the Chicago Panel on Public School Policy and Finance, December 1986); Tribune series; Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1989 and March 14, 1990.
46 TOP SALARIES, DU SABLE AND SUBURBS: According to the Chicago Tribune (May 12, 1989), maximum salary for teachers in the Chicago public schools was $40,579; at New Trier High School, $59,400; at Niles Township High School, $62,834; at Glenbard High School, $57,600; at Downers Grove High School, $58,887.
47 JAMES D. SQUIRES CITED: Tribune series.
48 “ABOUT $2,000”: “Black in White America,” ABC News, August 29, 1989.
49 SOCIOLOGIST CITED: Author’s interview, March 1990.
50 SCHOOLS IN MAYWOOD, EAST AURORA, NILES: Illinois State Board of Education, “Illinois Public Schools Financial Statistics, 1986–1987 School Year,” (Springfield: 1988). Also see Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1987, and Chicago Sun-Times, November 1, 1988.
51 “THIS SCHOOL IS RIGHT FOR THIS COMMUNITY”: Washington Post, October 12, 1980.
52 OFFICE EDUCATION COURSE CANCELED AT NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL: Washington Post, October 12, 1980.
53 STUDENT-COUNSELOR RATIOS, SCHOOL LIBRARY STATISTICS, ETC.: Chicago Sun-Times, April 14, 1985.
54 JOHN COONS CITED: See notes for page 69.
55 PROPOSAL TO CUT CLASS SIZE: The proposal of Chicago’s 54-member Education Summit is discussed in a Chicago Tribune editorial, April 1, 1988.
56 RESPONSE OF ASSISTANT EDUCATION SECRETARY CHESTER FINN: Chicago Tribune editorial, April 1, 1988.
57 RESPONSE OF EDUCATION SECRETARY WILLIAM BENNETT: Chicago Tribune, March 24, 1988.
58 CITATION FROM NEW YORK TIMES: March 22, 1987.
59 CHICAGO TRIBUNE EDITORIAL: April 1, 1988.
60 A SIMILAR PLAN VETOED BY GOVERNOR: Chicago Tribune, February 2, 1987.
61 “A CASTE SOCIETY”: Francis Keppel, The Necessary Revolution in American Education (New York: Harper & Row, 1966).
62 BUSINESS OPPOSITION TO TAX INCREMENTS TO HELP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: “City and state business associations have consistently lobbied against tax increases for education.… Some business lobbies continue their long opposition.…” (Tribune series.) According to the Tribune (February 8, 1988), the presidents of both the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Manufacturers Association “have announced that once again they will fight any increase in state taxes to give more money to education.” According to Hess, of the Chicago Panel on School Policy and Finance, “One has to keep in mind that the corporations are not monolithic. Individual corporate leaders have begun to speak more openly of the financial needs of the Chicago schools. But an executive may speak in favor of more taxes while other representatives of the same firm may continue to oppose such taxes.” On the public level, he says, “business leaders are not yet in favor of more money for Chicago’s schools.” (Conversation with author, March 1991.)
63 “DECK CHAIRS ON THE TITANIC”: Tribune series.
64 MOTHER IN CHICAGO: Conversations with author, 1990.
3. INEQUALITIES OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NEW YORK
1 LORD ACTON CITED: George Alan Hickrod, “Reply to the ‘Forbs’ Article,” Journal of School Finance, vol. 12 (1987).
2 PER-PUPIL SPENDING, NEW YORK CITY AND SUBURBS: Office for Policy Analysis and Program Accountability, New York State Board of Education, “Statistical Profiles of School Districts,” (Albany: January 1, 1989). Numbers cited are for 1986–1987 school year.
3 QUESTION ASKED BY NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND RESPONSE OF COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY: Community Service Society of New York, “Promoting Poverty: The Shift of Resources Away from Low-Income New York City School Districts,” (New York: 1987).
4 CONTRAST BETWEEN SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT 10, STATEMENTS OF PRINCIPALS AND SUPERINTENDENT: New York Times, January 2, 1987. District 10 Superintendent Fred Goldberg resigned under pressure in 1991. A highly respected veteran of the New York City public schools, he struck me, in the course of an April 1990 interview, as an enlightened educator caught up in a compromising situation that was not of his own making. Educators in New York believe that he was made to pay an unfair price for the profound racism rooted in the city’s public schools.
5 AUTHOR’S VISITS IN DISTRICT 10: February and May 1990.
6 INEQUITIES IN NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS: New York Times, July 2, 1987; New York Post, July 2, 1987; The (New York) City Sun, July 15–21, 1987; “Promoting Poverty” (Community Service Society of New York), cited above.
7 OVERVIEW OF MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL: New York Times, December 10, 1988.
8 INTERVIEWS AT MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL: February 1990.
9 RACIAL BREAKDOWN AT MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL: New York City Board of Education, Division of High Schools, “School Profiles” (New York: 1988).
10 DROPOUT AND SAT STATISTICS, MORRIS HIGH: Interviews with school personnel; New York City Board of Education, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment, “The Annual Dropout Report 1987–88” (New York: April 1989).
11 INEQUITIES BETWEEN SELECTIVE AND NONSELECTIVE SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK CITY: Editorial by Diane Camper, New York Times, July 9, 1986.
12 JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL, WORDS OF PRINCIPAL AND NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: Advocates for Children of New York, “The Report of the New York Hearing on Our Children at Risk” (New York, 1984).
13 NATHAN GLAZER CITED: Harvard Educational Review, vol. 57, No. 2 (1987).
14 “A STUDENT MAY BE IN THE WRONG CLASS”: “The Report of the New York Hearing on Our Children at Risk,” cited above.
15 PUPIL-COUNSELOR RATIO IN NEW YORK CITY HIGH SCHOOLS: According to Time magazine (September 17, 1990), “An impossible caseload of 1,000 high school students for every guidance counselor makes a mockery of the profession.” New York financier Felix Rohatyn (New York Times, September 2, 1989) says, “There is now one counselor for every 700 children in the system.”
16 “AS MANY AS THREE OUT OF FOUR BLACKS,” ETC.: “School Strategies for Promoting the Education Success of At-Risk Children,” report of Commissioner’s Task Force on the Education of Youth At-Risk, New York State Board of Education (Albany: October 13, 1988).
17 DROPOUT RATES IN NEW YORK CITY: According to the New York City Board of Education (“Annual Dropout Report,” April 1989), the graduation rate for students in the class of 1987 five years after entering ninth grade was 54 percent, indicating that 46 percent had failed to graduate. This is the figure that appeared in Sara Rimer’s story in the New York Times, March 12, 1989. By using another method of calculation, however, the Board of Education said the dropout rate was “hovering around 30 percent.” According to the New York Times (May 2, 1989), “New figures confirm that one in every four New York City public school students drops out of school.” There is no evidence that anyone in the press or school department ever tries to reconcile these numbers.
18 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS NOT INCLUDED IN OFFICIAL DROPOUT FIGURES: Peter Flanders, Office of Research Evaluation and Assessment, New York City Board of Education, author’s interview, March 1991. According to a RAND Corporation study (“High Schools with Character,” 1990) “nearly 10 percent” of New York City students “disappear” before they enter high school—most of them after their eighth grade year.
19 NUMBER-JUGGLING BY SCHOOL BOARDS: New York Times, April 11, 1989; New Jersey Reporter, May 1988.
20 “I HATED THE SCHOOL”: National Coalition of Advocates for Children, “Barriers to Excellence,” (Boston: 1985).
21 OFFICIAL OF RHEEDLEN FOUNDATION CITED: “Barriers to Excellence,” cited above.
22 “CHILDREN WHO JUST DISAPPEAR FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH”: New York Times, February 3, 1987.
23 PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF SCHOOLS: New York Times, March 12 and June 19, 1990.
24 DISCUSSION OF P.S. 94: New York Times, March 12 and 17, May 23, and June 8, 1990.
25 INFANT MORTALITY IN CENTRAL HARLEM AND EAST HARLEM: New York Times, September 30 and October 1, 1990.
26 SENATOR BILL BRADLEY CITED: Boston Globe, September 29, 1990.
27 UNITED HOSPITAL FUND CITED: New York Observer, March 6, 1989.
28 PROFESSOR ELI GINZBERG CITED: New York Times, October 11, 1986. See also “Sick at Their Heart, Cities Become Medical Disaster Area for the Poor,” New York Times, December 24, 1990.
29 LOWER QUALITY OF EDUCATION “ACCEPTED AS A FACT”: New York Times, July 2, 1987.
30 SHORTAGES OF EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES IN NEW YORK CITY HOSPITALS: New York Times, October 7 and 10, 1986 and March 10, 1989.
31 DAVID DINKINS CITED: New York Times, December 14, 1987.
32 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CITED: Article by Dr. Mark Epstein and Dr. Mark Wenneker appeared in the issue of January 13, 1989.
33 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CITED: Issue of January 13, 1989.
34 “A DIFFERENT SUBJECTIVE RESPONSE” TO BLACK PATIENTS: The physician cited is Dr. Richard Cooper, a cardiologist at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital. (Boston Globe, January 13, 1989.)
35 PHYSICIAN IN SOUTH BRONX CITED: Unnamed by request.
36 HANDCUFFS PURCHASED FOR NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS: New York Observer, April 24, 1989.
37 90 PERCENT OF NEW YORK CITY PRISON INMATES ARE HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS: Advertisement placed by the United Federation of Teachers in the New York Times, May 22, 1990. See also “Where We Stand,” column by Albert Shanker, American Federation of Teachers, New York Times, October 21, 1990.
38 DISPROPORTIONATE TRACKING OF BLACK AND HISPANIC CHILDREN IN SPECIAL CLASSES: “Barriers to Excellence,” cited above.
39 PER-PUPIL SPENDING IN LONG ISLAND AND WESTCHESTER COUNTY: New York State Department of Education, “Statistical Profiles of School Districts,” cited above. Also see Newsday, May 18, 1986. According to Sandra Feldman, President of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, “the average per-pupil expenditure is nearly $2,500 higher” in the suburbs “right outside the city.” (The School Administrator, March 1991.) According to the New York Times (May 4, 1991), New York City now spends $7,000 for each pupil. The wealthiest suburbs spend approximately $15,000.
40 NEW YORK STATE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION CITED: Newsday, February 1, 1989.
41 NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL OFFICIAL CITED: See notes for page 92.
42 $200,000 MORE EACH YEAR: In the school year ending in June of 1987, per-pupil funding was $5,585 in New York City, about $11,300 in Jericho and Manhasset. For 36 children, the difference was over $200,000.
43 DATA ON RYE HIGH SCHOOL: Author’s visit, May 1990; Rye High School Guidance Department, “The Rye High School Profile,” 1990.
44 PER-PUPIL FUNDING AT RYE HIGH SCHOOL: According to “The Rye High School Profile,” cited above, the figure for 1989–1990 was $12,076.
45 MISSISSIPPI DATA: Time, November 14, 1988; Newsweek, December 13, 1982; Governing Magazine, January 1990.
4. CHILDREN OF THE CITY INVINCIBLE
1 WALL STREET JOURNAL CITATIONS: Editorial, June 27, 1989; Education Supplement, March 31, 1989; also February 9, 1990.
2 SCHOOLS THAT SPEND LESS THAN THE AVERAGE OF TEN YEARS AGO: The average expenditure for public schools in the United States in 1980–1981 was $2,502. (National Center for Education Statistics, “Digest of Education Statistics,” 1990.)
3 CAMDEN STATISTICS: Abbott v. Burke, decision of Administrative Law Judge Stephen L. Lefelt, OAL DKT. NO. EDU 5581–88, August 24, 1985 (identified hereafter as “Lefelt”); Abbott v. Burke, Plaintiffs Brief before Supreme Court of New Jersey, June 16, 1989; New York Times, June 12, 1988, January 2 and September 7, 1989, and February 7, 1990; U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Ranking of Places by 1987 Per Capita Income,” series P-26, no. 88, Washington, D.C., 1990.
4 INTERVIEWS AT PYNE POINT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, CAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL, WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL: March 1990.
5 PYNE POINT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 98 PERCENT BLACK AND LATINO: Lefelt.
6 STUDENTS LEAVE CAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR LUNCH: Lefelt.
7 “WORK-A-TEXT STUDY PROGRAM FOR WRITING”: Instructivision, Inc., Livingston, New Jersey, 1987.
8 INTERVIEW WITH CAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS: March 1990.
9 CAMPBELL’S AND RCA SHUTTING DOWN OR CUTTING BACK ON OPERATIONS: Interview with Reverend Michael Doyle of Sacred Heart Church, Camden, March 1990; New York Times, February 7, 1990; (South New Jersey) Courier-Post, March 7, 1990.
10 PLANS FOR RIVERFRONT CURTAILED: According to Reverend Michael Doyle, an aquarium was finally completed. The riverfront hotel and other plans are in abeyance.
11 REVEREND MICHAEL DOYLE AND LOU ESOLA CITED: Interviews in November 1990.
12 HOUSES SOLD FOR AS LITTLE AS $1,000: New York Times, September 7, 1989.
13 DROPOUT RATE AT WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL: Lefelt.
14 PER-PUPIL SPENDING, CAMDEN VS. WEALTHY SUBURBS: According to the New York Times (May 14, 1990), Princeton was spending $8,344 per pupil, and Camden was spending $4,184, in the 1988–1989 school year.
15 EAST ORANGE, MONTCLAIR, MILLBURN: Lefelt; New York Times, March 5, 1990; WWOR TV, February 23, 1989.
16 JERSEY CITY DATA: Lefelt; U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Rankings of Places by 1987 Per Capita Income,” cited above.
17 DROPOUT AND FAILURE RATES, JERSEY CITY AND PRINCETON: Lefelt; also superintendent’s office, Princeton Public Schools, author’s interview, March 1991.
18 IRVINGTON DATA: Lefelt; also “Schools for Tomorrow,” a videotape produced by the Irvington Public Schools and narrated by Superintendent Anthony Scardaville, 1985. See also Abbott v. Burke, Plaintiffs’ Brief before Supreme Court of New Jersey, June 16, 1989.
19 “IT HARDLY SEEMS FAIR”: Kathy Lally (a parent and journalist), Baltimore Sun, February 19, 1989.
20 PATERSON DATA AND DISCUSSION OF FORMER PRINCIPAL JOE CLARK: Lefelt; author’s interviews at East Side High School and with school official, March 1990; Boston Globe, January 13, 1991.
21 CHERRY HILL AND PRINCETON: New Jersey Monthly, September 1988.
22 KINDERGARTENS COMPARED IN PATERSON AND WAYNE, AND QUESTION OF NEW JERSEY JUDGE: Lefelt.
23 ATTEMPTS OF URBAN DISTRICTS TO RENT SPACE IN SUBURBS: Lefelt.
24 DECISION OF NEW JERSEY JUDGE: Lefelt.
25 RULING OF SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY: Abbott v. Burke, 119 N.J. 287 (1990).
26 REACTIONS OF LETTER-WRITERS AND WEST ORANGE SUPERINTENDENT: Bergen Record, June 5 and 6 and July 27, 1990; New York Times, July 16, 1990.
27 WALL STREET JOURNAL APPLAUDS TAX REVOLT: July 3, 1990.
28 DEFENDANTS SAY COMPARISONS TO PRINCETON ARE UNFAIR: Lefelt.
29 PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER CITED: August 28, 1988.
30 ATTORNEY MARILYN MORHEUSER CITED: Author’s interview, March 1990.
5. THE EQUALITY OF INNOCENCE
1 MARYLAND SCHOOL EQUITY DISCUSSION: “A Growing Inequality,” The Abell Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, January 1989; interview with Robert Embry, president of The Abell Foundation, April 1991.
2 JOHN COONS CITED: Private Wealth and Public Education (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970).
3 INTENTIONAL ISOLATION OF BLACK COMMUNITIES IN CHICAGO: “The Wall,” series in the Chicago Tribune, November 30 through December 12, 1986.
4 “TWO WORLDS OF WASHINGTON”: Wall Street Journal, April 14, 1989.
5 INTERVIEWS WITH CHILDREN IN ANACOSTIA SCHOOL AND WITH DELABIAN RICE-THURSTON: April 1989. (Mrs. Rice-Thurston is executive director of Parents United for the District of Columbia Public Schools.) Also see “Business and Civic Leader Study of the Fiscal Needs of the District of Columbia Public Schools,” published by Parents United (December 1985: Washington, D.C.).
6 “LIKE SOLDIERS WHO HAVE SEEN TOO MUCH COMBAT”: New York Times, May 15, 1989.
7 PROSTITUTES ROUNDED UP: Boston Globe, July 27, 1989 and New York Times, July 27, 1989.
8 INTERVIEW WITH CHILDREN IN HOUSING PROJECT: August 1989.
9 PUBLIC REACTIONS TO BLACK INFANT DEATH RATE: Boston Globe editorial, September 21, 1990.
10 PSYCHIATRIST IN BOSTON: Unnamed by request.
11 SOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN CITED: Social scientist Mamphela Aletta Ramphele, in Boston Globe, March 6, 1989.
12 BOSTON GLOBE COLUMNIST CITED: Mike Barnicle, Boston Globe, August 24, 1989.
13 DISCUSSION OF RICHARD GREEN: Joe Klein, “Race,” New York Magazine, May 29, 1989.
14 HIGH CASUALTY RATE AMONG URBAN SUPERINTENDENTS: Boston Globe, December 16, 1990 and March 14, 1991; Boston Herald, February 19, 1990; author’s interviews with Gary Marx (American Association of School Administrators), Jonathan Wilson (Council of Urban Boards of Education), and Mike Casserly (Council of Great City Schools), March 1991.
15 DETROIT SCHOOL DATA: Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1988; New York Times, December 18, 1988; author’s interview with Detroit Free Press reporter Cassandra Spratling, April 1991.
16 SCHOOL FUNDING IN DETROIT AND SUBURBS AND REACTION TO SCHOOL EQUALIZING PLANS: Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1988.
17 CHRISTOPHER JENCKS AND CHARLES BENSON CITED: Arthur Wise, Rich Schools, Poor Schools (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967).
18 DISCUSSION OF MILLIKEN CASE: Richard Kluger, Simple Justice (New York: Vintage Books, 1977).
19 MINIMUM OF $2,800 IN 1988: Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1988.
20 MICHIGAN DISTRICTS THREATENED WITH SHUTDOWN: Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1988.
21 PROBLEMS FACING SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN MASSACHUSETTS: Boston Globe, April 23, 1989 and September 12 and 30, 1990.
22 MIDYEAR CUTS IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN FUNDING STATISTICS, COMMENTS OF SUPERINTENDENTS: Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1988.
23 PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH CITED: Press release, The White House, April 13, 1989.
6. THE DREAM DEFERRED, AGAIN, IN SAN ANTONIO
1 JOHN COONS CITED: Private Wealth and Public Education (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970).
2 HISTORY AND WORKINGS OF SCHOOL FINANCE SYSTEM: Arthur E. Wise, Rich Schools, Poor Schools (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967); Arthur E. Wise and Tamar Gendler in The College Board Review, Spring 1989; G. Alan Hickrod, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois (conversations with author, 1991); John Coons, cited above; James Gordon Ward, “An Inquiry Into the Normative Foundations of American Public School Finance,” Journal of Education Finance, Spring 1987.
3 A VIRTUALLY NATIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM: “A National Curriculum,” Quality Education for Minorities Network, Background, Issues, and Action Paper Note, vol. 1, no. 3 (March 7, 1991); Boston Globe, April 17, 1989.
4 JUDGE STEPHEN LEFELT CITED: See notes for page 137.
5 CLASS ACTION SUIT IN TEXAS: Thomas J. Flygare, “School Finance a Decade After Rodriguez,” Phi Delta Kappan, March 1983.
6 U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION: San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, March 21, 1973, in “Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at October Term, 1972,” United States Reports, vol. 411 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974). The opinion of Justice Lewis Powell begins on page 5. The opinion of Justice Thurgood Marshall begins on page 86. Also see Richard Kluger, Simple Justice (New York: Vintage Books, 1977).
7 SCHOOL INEQUITIES IN CALIFORNIA AND FINDINGS OF CALIFORNIA COURTS: James W. Guthrie, “United States School Finance Policy, 1955–1980,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis vol. 5, no. 2 (Summer 1983).
8 SIGNIFICANCE OF PROPOSITION 13: James W. Guthrie, cited above; Donald Wicket, “School Finance Issues Related to the Implementation of Serrano and Proposition 13,” Journal of Education Finance, Spring 1985; William L. Taylor and Dianne M. Piché, “A Report on Shortchanging Children: The Impact of Fiscal Inequity on the Education of Students at Risk,” report to the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, December 1990.
9 SOUTHERN VOTERS’ RESPONSE TO DESEGREGATION: Francis Keppel, The Necessary Revolution in American Education (New York: Harper & Row, 1966).
10 ALL BUT 5 PERCENT OF CALIFORNIA DISTRICTS ARE WITHIN $300 OF EACH OTHER: Author’s interview with Raymond M. Reinhard, Legislative Budget Committee, Office of Legislative Analyst, Sacramento, California, March 1991.
11 CALIFORNIA’S SPENDING FOR EDUCATION, ETC., COMPARED TO OTHER STATES: Taylor and Piché, cited above.
12 BEVERLY HILLS, BALDWIN PARK: U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Ranking of Places by 1987 Per Capita Income,” series P-28, no. 88, Washington, D.C., 1990; Wall Street Journal, October 13, 1989; Charles S. Benson and Kevin O’Halloran, “The Economic History of School Finance in the United States” Journal of Education Finance, Spring 1987; Toni Cook, former assistant to California assemblyman Elihu Harris, author’s interview, March 1991.
13 RANGE OF FUNDING IN CALIFORNIA: In Kern County, California the McKittrick Elementary District spent $7,518 per pupil in 1990, while Bakersfield, California (“a problem-ridden, inner-city district,” according to the Bakersfield Californian) spent $2,756. (Bakersfield Californian, July 3, 1990.)
14 RANGE OF FUNDING IN TEXAS: West’s Education Law Reporter, December 7, 1989.
15 STATE GUARANTEES AN AVERAGE MINIMUM OF $1,477: San Antonio Express-News, October 8, 1989.
16 O. Z. WHITE CITED: Author’s interviews with Professor White, of Trinity University, 1989 and 1990.
17 VISIT TO COOPER MIDDLE SCHOOL: April 1989.
18 DATA ON COOPER MIDDLE SCHOOL, SAN ANTONIO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, EDGEWOOD DISTRICT AND ALAMO HEIGHTS: Texas Education Agency, “1987–1988 PEIMS Fall Collection of Financial Budgeted Data” (Austin: 1988); additional data provided by principal of Cooper Middle School, school departments of Alamo Heights and San Antonio Independent School Districts, Terry Hitchcock of the Texas Education Agency, O. Z. White, and social workers in Cassiano neighborhood, author’s interviews, 1989 and 1991.
19 RULING OF TEXAS SUPREME COURT: “Edgewood v. Kirby,” West’s Education Law Reporter, December 7, 1989; New York Times, October 3, 1989.
20 REACTION OF DEMETRIO RODRIGUEZ AND OTHERS IN SAN ANTONIO: San Antonio Express-News, October 3, 8 and 9, 1989.
21 REACTION OF TEXAS POLITICIANS AND COMMENTS OF U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: New York Times, October 3, 1989 and March 11, 1990; San Antonio Express-News, October 3, 1989.
22 NEW FORMULA, FURTHER DELAY: San Antonio Express-News, October 2, 1990, February 8 and 9 and March 1, 1991; Dallas Morning News, April 12, 1991.
23 LOWER PRICE HILL, INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION, SCHOOL COMPLETION DATA: Bob Moore, interview, May 1989; Cincinnati Enquirer, April 1, 1989; “Report on Health, Education and Pollution in Lower Price Hill,” Executive Summary, Lower Price Hill Task Force (Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Ohio Citizens Action, Appalachian Council), June 1990; author’s visit, May 1989.
24 READING LEVELS, OTHER DATA ON OYLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Materials provided by school system.