Separating to Learn

One of the criticisms facing learning pods and microschools is that they allow families to choose segregated environments by which to educate their children. We’ve talked before about the possibility of a group of Nazi families forming their own group of young learners to teach the teachings of Adolph Hitler, along with reading, writing, and problem-solving skills. It would be rare to find anyone excited by this type of personalized learning environment.

But what if I told you that these types of segregated learning environments already exist in America? I’m not talking about Nazis here, but schools that are segregated primarily by race. America’s urban public schools are mainly enrolled by poor black and brown families, while suburban schools serve white and Asian-American populations. In the American South, though, there are still what are called “segregation academies” operating, schools that serve exclusively white enrollments while primarily black youngsters attend non-tuition public schools.

Recently, Propublica focused on Camden, Alabama, a place where black and white residents say they would like their children to be schooled together. But, 70 years after Brown v. Board, their children attend separate schools within the same town.

Propublica’s article begins,

“A mile of Alabama country road, and a history of racism, separate the two schools. At the stop sign between them, even the road’s name changes. Threadgill Road, christened for a civil rights hero, becomes Whiskey Run. Black students take Threadgill to one campus; white students turn off Whiskey Run toward the other.”

“Both schools are shrinking. Wilcox County, a notch in the swath of old plantation country known as the Black Belt, struggles with declining population – a common scenario across this part of the South. In such places, the existence of two separate school systems can isolate entire communities by race.”

“The private school, Wilcox Academy, is what researchers call a ‘segregation academy’ due to the historic whiteness of its student body and the timing of its opening. It’s down to 200 students across 12 grades. Housed in a single-story building with beige siding and brown brick veneer, the school offers chapel and core academic classes but not music, theater or band programs.”

“Down the road, the country’s public high school has more students and course options. Wilcox Central High’s building, with a medical-training lab and competition-sized swimming pool, could house 1,000 students. Instead, it barely draws 400, virtually all of them Black, from across the entire 888-square-mile county.”

“Divisions like this have long played out across the region. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring public school segregation unconstitutional. As the federal courts repeatedly ruled against the South’s massive resistance, many white people pivoted to a new tactic, one that is lesser known and yet profoundly influences the Black Belt region today. They created a web of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of private schools to educate white children.”

“Now, 70 years after the Brown decision, ProPublica has found about 300 schools that likely opened as segregation academies in the South are still operating. Some have flourished into pricey college-prep behemoths. Others, like Wilcox Academy, remain modest Christian schools. Many have accepted more nonwhite students over the years, and some now come close to reflecting the communities they serve.”

“But across Alabama’s 18 Black Belt counties, all of the remaining segregation academies ProPublica identified – about a dozen – are still vastly white, even though the region’s population is majority Black. And in the towns where these schools operate, they often persist as a dividing force.”

“Even when rural segregation academies offer fewer amenities than their public-school counterparts, white parent are often unwilling to voluntarily send their children to majority-Black public schools. That can be to the detriment of all students, especially in struggling communities where money is tight. It means doubling up on school overhead costs, and fewer students at each school means neither one can offer the robust programs that they could provide if their resources were combined.”

…

“And soon, far more tax dollars will be flowing into private schools. Republican lawmakers are adopting plans for massive infusions of state money to help thousands more students who want to attend them. It’s part of a movement barreling across the country, particularly in the Southeast – where, in Black Belt counties like Wilcox, a segregation academy may be the only nearby private school option.”

“In March, Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey, who is from Wilcox County, signed the CHOOSE Act. It creates a program of voucher-like education savings accounts and directs the state legislature to devote no less than $100 million a year to fund them. Students can apply for up to $7,000 a year to pay for private school tuition, among other costs.”

…

“To Alabama native Steve Suitts, history is repeating.”

“After the Brown decision, Southern legislatures provided state money to help white students flee to the new academies. Alabama was among the first states to do so, said Suitts, a historian and author of ‘Overturning Brown: The Segregationist Legacy of the Modern School Choice Movement.’ Even the language used – framing the movement as parents’ right to ‘freedom’ and ‘private school choice’ – was the same then as it is now.”

“’I cannot see how there will be any difference,’ Suitts said of recent laws. He dubbed Alabama’s new voucher-style program the Segregation Academy Rescue Act.”

…

This story exemplifies why education savings accounts need to be applied beyond the private school option. Families should be given the option to choose quality options outside of traditional K-12 public schools, whether that be private school, learning pods, microschools, or other.

I guess there is still a chance that most whites will choose to learn with other whites, and most blacks will choose to learn with other blacks. We saw a nice mix of kids, from all racial and economic backgrounds, when we had our personalized learning lab school a decade ago.

But is it time to admit, different from Horace Mann’s dream that all of America would attend the same schools, races, classes, and genders might choose to learn with others who look like them and think like them?

I’ll be away tomorrow, but back Monday. Til then. SVB