Five miles away, a world apart : one city, two schools, and the story of educational opportunity in modern America

The Resource Five miles away, a world apart : one city, two schools, and the story of educational opportunity in modern America

Label

Five miles away, a world apart : one city, two schools, and the story of educational opportunity in modern America

Title remainder

one city, two schools, and the story of educational opportunity in modern America

Statement of responsibility

James E. Ryan

Title variation

5 miles away, a world apart

Language

eng

Summary

How is it that, half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, educational opportunities remain so unequal for black and white students, not to mention poor and wealthy ones? In this book the author answers this question by tracing the fortunes of two schools in Richmond, Virginia--one in the city and the other in the suburbs. Ryan shows how court rulings in the 1970s, limiting the scope of desegregation, laid the groundwork for the sharp disparities between urban and suburban public schools that persist to this day. The Supreme Court, in accord with the wishes of the Nixon administration, allowed the suburbs to lock nonresidents out of their school systems. City schools, whose student bodies were becoming increasingly poor and black, simply received more funding, a measure that has proven largely ineffective, while the independence (and superiority) of suburban schools remained sacrosanct. Weaving together court opinions, social science research, and compelling interviews with students, teachers, and principals, Ryan explains why all the major education reforms since the 1970s--including school finance litigation, school choice, and the No Child Left Behind Act--have failed to bridge the gap between urban and suburban schools and have unintentionally entrenched segregation by race and class. As long as that segregation continues, Ryan forcefully argues, so too will educational inequality. Ryan closes by suggesting innovative ways to promote school integration, which would take advantage of unprecedented demographic shifts and an embrace of diversity among young adults.--From book jacket

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

344.73/0798

Index

index present

LC call number

KF4155

LC item number

.R93 2010

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Context

Context of Five miles away, a world apart : one city, two schools, and the story of educational opportunity in modern America

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