Dallas school argues for separate but equal classrooms to prevent white flight.
Numerous instances of a principal's policy to have "white only" elementary classrooms in an effort to attract more white students and the conspiracy to cover this up revealed in court. Judge rules not enough evidence was presented that the school district knew what was going on but fines teacher and orders integration.
For years, it was an open secret at North Dallas' Preston Hollow Elementary School: Even though the school was overwhelmingly Hispanic and black, white parents could get their children into all-white classes. And once placed, the students would have little interaction with the rest of the students.This happens at a number of schools in Texas. At the end of the article you can see the school district searching for some legal methods to maintain de facto segregation.
The result, a federal judge has ruled, was that principal Teresa Parker "was, in effect, operating, at taxpayer's expense, a private school for Anglo children within a public school that was predominantly minority."
Judge Sam Lindsay's opinion paints an unflattering picture of the elementary school and a principal who was so desperate to appease the school's affluent white parents that she turned back the clock on school desegregation 50 years.
Tags: Texas, segregation, schools, education
1 comment:
What will happen next?
DISD will be forced to retire the principal, Teresa Parker.
The original plaintiffs and their legal counsel MALDEF will rebuff any and all changes made to the classroom makeup at Preston Hollow. Why you ask? Simple, Judge Lindsay did not find DISD guilty. Judge Lindsay only awarded actual and punitive damages to plaintiff Santamaria. OFE and its President, Ana Gonzalez recieved no monetary compensation. MALDEF did not get their fees paid by the loser as customary in federal cases. Each side is liable for their own cost of litigation. Guess what? MALDEF is pissed off. No big pay day. MALDEF and the plaintiffs will be back, no doubt claiming that Teresa Parker and DISD are in violation of Judge Lindsay's order on January 18th, the day after the deadline. This time MALDEF will argue for additional sanctions, monetary damages, and attorney fees. So the court room battle for Preston Hollow will continue.
And who are the real winners and losers? There are no winners, only the kids are the losers. None, not the Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Anglos.
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