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There are other ways to begin untangling the Gordian knot of a desegregation decree that now strangles San Francisco public education. Although no school district in America has done a perfect job of providing both racial equity and quality education, some districts -- many of them, ironically, in the South -- have found innovative ways to improve schools and end court-mandated integration schemes that were disserving students. Some of those districts moved schools, so surrounding neighborhoods would be naturally racially balanced and busing would not be needed; others have broken up school districts to reduce the amount of busing required to achieve rough racial balance.
The most successful responses to desegregation orders have involved specialized "magnet" programs. Such a magnet -- for example, a program that provides advanced training in the performing arts -- would draw an ethnic mix of students from across the city. But magnet programs sit inside regular schools, and those schools also serve kids from their surrounding neighborhoods. Racial balance comes voluntarily, even as a neighborhood school is strengthened.
To be sure, a federal court monitors the San Francisco school district for compliance with a consent decree that carries the weight of law. There is no guarantee that the court would agree to consider significant changes in city desegregation efforts that might -- or, admittedly, might not -- improve education of minority students. And in the short run, it will remain less politically risky for the school board to leave the desegregation issue alone, letting the court dictate education programs, as it has for years.
But hiding behind the federal court and the 1983 desegregation decree is not likely to be a long-term option for the San Francisco School Board. The tide has turned. The U.S. Supreme Court and federal district courts have overturned desegregation orders across the country. The counter-desegregation lawsuit has been filed. If the school district doesn't step up to the plate with a better plan for progressing toward racial and educational equity soon, board members may find themselves facing a new court order -- one even less pleasant than the one entered some 14 years ago.
