Education and Civil Rights School Desegregation In Boston

Journal – respond in your notebooks  Imagine that the federal, state and city governments no longer paid for public schools.  How might your life be different?  How might your community be different?  How might the US be different as a country without free public education?

Brainstorm  List reasons why the government pays for every student to attend public schools?

What do you think?  The government do not fully pay for cable television, internet, or even health care?  Why should education be any different?

Is education a civil right?  Education is now a legal right in the US. But it wasn’t always.  In fact, education is not mentioned anywhere in the US Constitution.  Yet, as we know, states began passing education laws in the early 1880s. In Massachusetts, education has been a law since the Puritans settled here.

Education is a civil right.  What are civil rights? Where to they come from?  Brainstorm a list of civil rights.  Complete handout “Civil Right or Privilege?”

Why are certain rights called civil rights?  The word civil is derived from the Latin word civilis or civis, which means “citizen.”  Thus, civil rights are often defined as those rights that are provided to citizens through the laws and policies of their government

Brown v. Board of Education  What do you remember about the Brown case?

Brown v. Board of Education  This is the Supreme Court case that explicitly established the law that education is a civil right.  Decided in 1954  Overturned Plessy v Ferguson (1896) which determined that ‘separate but equal did not violate the 14 th Amendment. (no State shall deny any person the equal protections of laws)

Read aloud the following point from Justice Warren’s opinion in the Brown case. Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

Now, write the point in your own words.  Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

 How does an opportunity become a right?  What does it mean to make this right available “to all on equal terms”?

Read aloud the next points from Justice Warren’s opinion in the Brown case.  The “separate but equal” doctrine… has no place in the field of public education  Now write it in your own words.

 Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group equal educational opportunities.  Now write it in your own words. Read aloud the next point from Justice Warren’s opinion in the Brown case.

What is discrimination?  People naturally divide each other into groups, noticing different characteristics such as gender, height, skin color, age etc.  When unlawful discrimination exists when people are denied a civil right simply because of these differences

Education as a Civil Right in Boston Public Schools in the 1960s  Reporter’s Notebook - preview  Segregation in the North. What do you know?  Read quotes  View clip from “Keys to the Kingdom, Eye on the Prize”  Complete Part One of Field notes I

Reflection  Write for 2 minutes reflecting on the clip we just watched

Reflection Part 2. What are these women saying?  Mrs. Johnson: (Boston parents) I said that any school that is predominantly Negro in Boston is an inadequate school  Mrs. Hicks: (Boston School Committee member) Mrs. Johnson, the Superintendent of Schools has stated as his policy that a racially imbalanced school is not educationally harmful

In the 1960s, why were Boston’s schools racially segregated  Journal  Four Corners  Key Questions  Define de jure & de facto  Lecture  Complete Field Notes 2  Writing Assignment - Your thoughts and experiences on Segregation.

In the 1960s, why were Boston’s schools racially segregated  Brainstorm on the relationship between Schools & Neighborhood

Discuss:  What should be the relationships between schools and neighborhoods?

Four Corners Exercise  IN each of the four corners are the signs for strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree and disagree.  Read the following questions and then move to the corner of the room that matches your opinion

Four Corners  The people in my neighborhood are mostly the same people who attend my school.

Four Corners  It is important for students to attend schools in their own neghborhood

Key Questions  How is it possible that many black students and white students in Boston were attending different schools 10 and 20 years after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional.

De jure and de facto  De jure – as a matter of law  De facto – as a matter of fact Why don’t 7 year olds drive a car? De facto reasons include – 7 yr olds are usually to short to drive a car & most parents won’t let them. De jure reasons include 7yr olds cannot legally get their license

In the 1960s, why were Boston’s schools racially segregated  Review Part I of newspaper article assignment  Journal  Lecture  Complete Field Notes 2  Writing Assignment - Your thoughts and experiences on Segregation. Complete final questions from Lecture Notes

Segregation and Integration  Turn to Fieldnote 1:Part 2 – select one of the prompts and respond in the space provided.  Write for 3 – 5 minutes  Report back to class

Why were Boston’s schools segregated in the 1960s?  Fieldnote 2- graphic organizer  Lecture notes and map of Boston  Review main idea questions  Read point 1 & label maps (color code)  Read point 2 and answer question  Read point 3 and as a group come up with 3 points for 1 st main idea.  Complete Main idea 2 & 3

Homework  Writing Assignment - Your thoughts and experiences on Segregation. Complete final questions from Lecture Notes

Your thoughts on Segregation  In partners share your ideas from last nights homework.  One person read their answer  The partner must ask a follow up question.  To help you develop follow up questions, here are some starters:  I’d like to know more about….  What did you mean by…  Why did you think that….  I am confused about….  When you are finished, switch roles

Impact of Segregation on individuals and society  Journal – What are the costs of segregated communities to an individual? Are there benefits of segregated for the individual ?

Impact of Segregation on individuals and society  Journal – What are the costs of segregated to the larger society? Are there benefits of segregated communities for the larger society?

Homework  Finish Field Notes Part Two