Thursday, March 25, 2010

Atlanta Education System 1950-2000

One of my findings is about how the goal of integration affected the make-up of public schools, in perhaps an unexpected way. Integration was a huge goal of many African American interest groups in Atlanta from the 1954 Brown vs Topeka Board of Education ruling through 1973. During this period the NAACP fought hard for integration, both in and out of court.

These efforts, however, had unintended results. It caused to a huge movement of white students out of the public school system and into private education. By 1963, Blacks had become a majority in public schools. Instead of integrating the schools, the schools were becoming all black.

The changing makeup of the public schools led to the Atlanta Compromise of 1973. Instead of demanding full integration, there would be a smaller-scale busing program. A stipulation of this Compromise was that the school system would be staffed equally by white and black administrators.

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