Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete F.
As we all know, 1954 was the year of the famous racial desegregation case of Brown v. Board of Education. In order to comply with the law, without having a massive shift of students, the District's school officials decided to turn all public schools in Washington into neighborhood schools.
By this time, the neighborhood around Dunbar High School was rundown. This had not affected the school's academic standards, however, because black students from all over the city went to Dunbar, though very few of those who lived in its immediate vicinity did.
When Dunbar became a neighborhood school, the whole character of its student body changed radically-- and the character of its teaching staff changed very soon afterward. In the past, many Dunbar teachers had continued to teach for years after they were eligible for retirement because it was such a fulfilling experience. Now, as inadequately educated, inadequately motivated, and disruptive students flooded into the school, teachers began retiring, some as early as 55 years of age. Inside of a very few years, Dunbar became just another failing ghetto school, with all the problems that such schools have, all across the country. Eighty-five years of achievement simply vanished into thin air.
Where did the inadequately educated, inadequately motivated, and disruptive students suddenly appear from? Were they being educated prior to 1954?
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Point is, integration was not necessary for success. Being an all black school was not a detriment. What mattered was the rigor and discipline of the students, the solid curricula taught by teachers dedicated to the success of their students, and the high standards set by the principals.
Nor was being from the "middle class" necessary. Most of the students came from below the middle class.