Verbatim Mac

Impact – School and economic Integration good

Educational inequality and segregation promotes racial exclusion

James, Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law, 2015

(Osamuida, “Soapbox: Racial segregation in schools, no matter how unintended, should be illegal”, Miami Herald, February 19, 2015, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/coral-gables/article10679735.html, accessed 7/11/17, GDI-JG)

A popular magazine recently asked its readers whether racial segregation is still legal, even if it is not deliberate. The answer depends on what we mean to oppose when we oppose racial segregation. If we mean to merely prevent formal and intentional acts of discrimination, then the answer is yes — unintended racial segregation is legal. If we mean to actually end racial exclusion, marginalization, and isolation in pursuit of substantive equality, then the answer is no — racial segregation, no matter how unintended, should be illegal.∂ Failure to commit to substantive racial equality continues to forestall attempts to achieve racial integration in our communities and schools. In Miami, for example, “unintended” residential racial isolation today is actually the product of intentional local, state, and federal policies that broadened access to safe, stable communities for some, while simultaneously denying home ownership, quality education, and public services to others. One need only examine neighborhood maps of Miami during the early 1930s that used racial composition to designate — for investment purposes — areas like Coral Gables as “best,” and certain parts of Coconut Grove as “hazardous,” to get a sense of this intentional government discrimination.∂ Although this sort of blatant racism has long been outlawed, enduring racial and economic segregation in our city is a direct byproduct of intentional decisions to deny access to mortgages and other forms of community investment and development on the basis of race. Moreover, our still-segregated communities have resulted in segregated learning environments.∂ Current debates about controlled choice in the city of Coral Gables implicate this very issue. When asked whether their government has any obligation to counteract school segregation, many parents might respond ‘no’ if it means that they cannot attend their neighborhood school. After all, they might argue, school segregation is an historical artifact no longer in operation.∂ As members, however, of a broader community still impacted today by the intentional racial discrimination of yesterday, we have a duty to consider factors other than convenience, comfort, and our own ideal schooling arrangements when evaluating controlled choice.∂ We have a duty to also consider the value of school integration in helping us achieve our goal of substantive equality. We have a duty to weigh that value just as heavily as we weigh benefits of attending school close to home, and to reject the false dichotomy that the formality of “intent” creates. We have a moral imperative to actively embrace a commitment to racial inclusion in our schools and neighborhoods, and to reject school assignment plans that result, intentionally or unintentionally, in racial exclusion and segregation instead.

Democracy Internals and Impacts

Link – educational inequality undermines democracy

Educational equality is essential to U.S. democracy—sets up citizens with common knowledge and future resources to participate in politics

Chen, PhD candidate at Saint Louis University, publishing in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, 2015

[Amy Yun-Ping, “Educational Inequality: An Impediment to True Democracy in the United States,” Sociology Study, Vol.5 No.5, May, http://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/55f62bc2bf7b8.pdf accessed GDI -TM]

The fundamental concept of democracy aims to offer equal access to all members of society and to ensure that they are empowered to make a good life for themselves and establish the public good for the country. Quality education is a method to eliminate poverty and encourage the engine of shared prosperity for generations of Americans. When education improves the preparation and productivity of young members of the community, it increases the wealth of the country and leads many people to their American dreams. Nevertheless, the persistent and long-standing educational inequalities are an obstacle for the United States becoming a nation with true democracy and equal liberty. Thus, democracy becomes a superficial aspect and a beautiful bubble, and it is not realized in practice. The Collapse of Political Responsibility Hochschild and Scovronick (2003) stated, “Education also powerfully affects people’s involvement with politics and their community, thereby creating another link between the nested structure of inequalities in schooling and the American dream” (Hochschild and Scovronick 2003: 24). Well-educated members of the community largely understand their obligation as participants in a democratic society, and they likely know current political facts and participate in political activities. The virtue of education in a democracy is that it tends to prepare children for citizenship and to foster in them the knowledge necessary for them to function in a civic society. But today in the United States, only some Americans fully exercise their political rights, and these are often citizens with high incomes, high socioeconomic statuses, and high levels of formal education. According to the American Political Science Association Taskforce (2005): In 1990, nearly nine out of 10 individuals in families with incomes over $75,000 reported voting in presidential elections, while only half of those in families with incomes under $15,000 reported voting. Fifty-six percent (56%) of those with incomes of at least $75,000 reported participating in political campaign activities, compared with a mere 6% among Americans with incomes under $15,000. (American Political Science Association Taskforce 2005: 80-81) The evidence indicates that there is a significant correlation between income status and the practice of citizenship. Americans with higher socioeconomic status usually enjoy not only higher educational achievement and salaries, but also have greater resources and skills to engage in politics and organizations. Education provides opportunities for Americans to acquire knowledge of democracy and to recognize their duty as members of a democratic society. Nevertheless, educational inequalities can lead to disparities in resources and skills between privileged and unprivileged people. The situation demolishes the goal of promoting democracy. The voices of U.S. citizens are heard unequally, and collective decisions respond much more to the privileged than to people of average means. The gap of inequality will increase. Instead of making progress, U.S. politics will continue to involve exclusion and unfairness, which strongly distorts the primary framework of democracy.

Equitable and integrated education is key to democracy—increases tolerance and educational attainment that equalizes democratic participation

Kahlenberg and Janey, Kahlenberg is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, Janey is a contributor to the Century Foundation, 2016

[Richard D. and Clifford, “Putting Democracy Back into Public Education,” The Century Foundation, November 10, https://tcf.org/content/report/putting-democracy-back-public-education/, GDI- TM]

Providing Students Equitable Access to Educational Opportunity Do students see that classmates of all races and economic backgrounds have access to the best schools and the most academically advanced tracks or do race and class appear to be highly predictive determinants of opportunity? Does the assignment of students to schools and academic tracks send the message that in a democracy, people of all backgrounds are equally valued, or that some are more worthy than others? School Integration in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Rochester, New York; and Elsewhere. The socioeconomic and racial integration of schools is important to the health of a democracy for three distinct reasons: (1) integrated schools underline the democratic message that in America, we are all political equals; (2) integrated schools promote tolerance and acceptance and make demagogic appeals that scapegoat minorities less likely to be effective; and (3) the opportunity to attend integrated schools raises educational attainment, which, in turn, is directly correlated with democratic participation rates. One key principle undergirding American democracy is that we all have not only an equal vote in elections but also an equal right to feel a part of the nation’s democratic heritage. Because Americans are bound not by blood but by a set of democratic ideals, everyone—no matter what race or national origin or religion or length of time in this country—can lay equal claim on the ideas of Jefferson and Madison and Washington.114 Of course, American history is riddled with examples of these ideals being trampled for certain groups, which is why it is important that we as a nation remain vigilant in the fight to preserve these ideals for all Americans. When American schoolchildren are educated in what are effectively apartheid schools—divided by race and class—the democratic message of equal political rights and heritage is severely undermined. Likewise, demagogues can more effectively inflame passions against those they deem as “others”—Muslims, Mexican immigrants, or African Americans—when there are large audiences who do not personally know many members of these groups, partly because they were raised in communities and schools that were almost exclusively white and Christian. The profound lesson of the gay rights movement, for example, is that only when gay Americans openly came out as neighbors, coworkers, and classmates did efforts to demonize homosexuals lose their potency. So too, a large body of research finds that integrated schools can reduce prejudice and racism that stems from ignorance and lack of personal contact.115 As Thurgood Marshall noted in one case, “Unless our children begin to learn together, then there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together.”116 Providing an excellent, integrated education also promotes democracy by improving educational attainment, which increases political participation. Controlling for family socioeconomic status and academic achievement, a 2013 longitudinal study found that students attending socioeconomically integrated schools are as much as 70 percent more likely to graduate high school and enroll in a four-year college than those attending high-poverty schools 117 Political philosopher Danielle Allen has suggested that denying an adequate education to low-income and minority students, as we routinely do, is another form of “voter suppression,” given the strong correlation between educational attainment and voter participation. In 2012, Census data show that 72 percent of adults with a bachelor’s degree or more voted, compared with less than 32 percent of those with less than a high school education.118

Equal public education strengthens democracy—allows children to acquire crucial skills despite their differences

Chen, PhD candidate at Saint Louis University, publishing in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, 2015

(Amy Yun-Ping, “Educational Inequality: An Impediment to True Democracy in the United States,” Sociology Study, Vol.5 No.5, May 2015, http://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/55f62bc2bf7b8.pdf, accessed 7/10/17, GDI-JG)

The core principles of U.S. education are supposed to include quality of educational opportunity and establishment of an equitable outcome. The principles should not advocate for a Race to the Top, a competition, or be a matter of individual choice with privileged sectors. U.S. education consistently needs to ensure the delivery of reliable, dependable, and equitable public services. The goal of the United States as a democratic society should be to provide an equal quality education to all children, so each of them has an equal chance to succeed in the world and promote the common good for the country.∂ Current educational reforms emphasize only high-stakes testing, test-based accountability, individual competition, and school choice, which all create a sense of crisis for racial segregation and class discrimination and lead to growing injustice in regard to educational opportunity. U.S. democracy is an ideal dream that offers possibilities for each citizen according to achievement and ability, free from racism, classism, and discrimination. Public education has been a primary mechanism for U.S. democracy, and it is also a reflection of society. Inferior education will eventually ruin our children, society, and nation. Nevertheless, education is the long-term solution for supporting social justice and fighting inequality. Children need to be equipped with adequate knowledge, critical thinking and judgment skills, and a sense of obligation and ethics. Both the government and the people share responsibility to give an equal chance and quality education to future generations, regardless of whether the child is from a wealthy or poor family or whether the child is White or Black. Education is a universal means of achieving other relative human rights, the protection of which is a core element of democracy. It can empower a country’s economy and society. Preventing racial and class inequality in social and educational sectors is of utmost importance. True democracy always opposes educational inequality.