Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works

by Rucker C. Johnson, Alexander Nazaryan

Overview

An acclaimed economist reveals that school integration efforts in the 1970s and 1980s were overwhelmingly successful — and argues that we must renew our commitment to integration for the sake of all Americans


We are frequently told that school integration was a social experiment doomed from the start. But as Rucker C. Johnson demonstrates in Children of the Dream, it was, in fact, a spectacular achievement. Drawing on longitudinal studies going back to the 1960s, he shows that students who attended integrated and well-funded schools were more successful in life than those who did not — and this held true for children of all races.


Yet as a society we have given up on integration. Since the high point of integration in 1988, we have regressed and segregation again prevails. Contending that integrated, well-funded schools are the primary engine of social mobility, Children of the Dream offers a radical new take on social policy. It is essential reading in our divided times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541672703
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/16/2019
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	952,799
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Rucker C. Johnson is the Chancellor's Professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He lives in Oakland, California

Table of Contents

Author's Note Rucker C. Johnson ix

Author's Note Alexander Nazaryan xi

Introduction: The Dream Deferred 1

Part I Forward March

1 Before Brown-And Beyond 17

2 The Integrated Classroom 41

3 Equality Promised, Equality Denied 67

4 Getting Ahead With Head Start 89

5 Putting The Pieces Together 115

Part II The Dream Reversed

6 Busing In Boston: "We Won't Go To School With N-Rs" 143

7 How Charlotte (Briefly) Got It Right 167

8 The Battle Of Jefferson County 197

9 Memphis City School Blues 225

Conclusion: Coming Up Together 253

Acknowledgments 267

Notes 269

Index 305

Editorial Reviews

"If you long for compelling arguments to reinforce a commitment to equal opportunity, Children of the Dream is a must-read. This well-written book integrates analyses of original quantitative data sets with engaging discussions of eye-opening qualitative evidence to reveal in sharp relief why the combination of integrated education, quality preschools, and equitable school funding works for disadvantaged students. Rucker C. Johnson has written an important volume that is bound to not only engage academics and policymakers, but general readers as well."—William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University

"This book is fuel for hope. No other work addressing race so powerfully combines first-class social science with historical, social, and policy analysis. Passion shapes the narrative without compromising the science. Indeed, here is a model for how to advocate equity by being advocates for evidence rather than ideology. Children of the Dream joins Richard Rothstein's recent work as essential reading for anyone committed to understanding our racial divisions and then addressing them with public policies and moral courage."—Christopher Edley, professor and former dean, U.C. Berkeley Law School, and co-founder, The Opportunity Institute

"There is no more urgent issue in America today than closing the gaps between Americans of different races and ensuring that everyone has a decent life and living. Education is central to that aspiration. This book is a bracing and informative summary of the history of segregation, desegregation, and resegregation. It demonstrates that integration works and that it is a goal towards which our entire society should work."—Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System

"In a highly diverse society and world like ours, integration matters. Most of us learn to live integrated lives through integrated schools. Rucker C. Johnson's ground-breaking research should raise alarms for policy makers, educators, parents, and any other citizen concerned about America's future in the face of classrooms that look today as segregated as they were when that practice was declared unlawful in 1954."—Deval Patrick, Managing Director, Bain Capital Double Impact, former Governor of Massachusetts

From the Publisher

2019-01-13

A study of the importance of school integration to the improvement of prospects for black and Hispanic children.

With the goal of inspiring action among parents, educators, and policymakers, Johnson (Public Policy/Univ. of California, Berkeley; co-author: Mother's Work and Children's Lives: Low-Income Families after Welfare Reform, 2010) draws on persuasive longitudinal studies to advocate a three-tiered strategy to counter racism and social inequality: integrated schools, school finance reform, and high-quality preschool. "If mediocre education is a malign force threatening the nation," he writes, then achieving integrated classrooms is nothing less than "a fight for our collective future that we can and must win." Himself a "third-generation benefactor" of school reform policies, he has a personal as well as professional stake in reversing segregation. He warns, however, that no single reform offers a silver bullet for improving education, and none should be assessed too quickly. "We implement some new whiz-bang reform," he writes, "let it run its course for a little while, but then become impatient because things haven't improved as much as we wanted them to." Johnson advises patience and a commitment to examining long-term impacts of such changes as equitable school funding and pre-kindergarten programs. Looking at data to determine children's later-life success, the author asserts that Head Start, for example, when funded adequately, leads to positive educational outcomes for low-income children; but outcomes are poor when funding is low. Similarly, he correlates children's access to health care as crucial when evaluating school reforms: "Healthier children," he asserts, "are better learners," underscoring "the interrelationship between early childhood investments in health and public school spending." Integration, of course, has been at the center of much debate, and Johnson recounts the violent reaction to Brown v. Board of Education, efforts by school districts to undermine integration once their legislative mandate was lifted, and white communities' creation of "charter districts" for their own residents. Racially and economically diverse neighborhoods, argues the author persuasively, are crucial to successful school reform.

A cogent and cleareyed analysis of a persistent problem.

Kirkus Reviews