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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I thought this report was striking but super short on any practical solutions to a problem that has vexed our public school system for decades.[/quote]

I thought the report was pretty clear that integration was a practical solution to the problem.  That is, in fact, the entire point of the podcast.  Someplace like DC, which is hyper-segregated but geographically compact, would be a perfect opportunity for reintegration of public schools.  [/quote]

You CLEARLY don't live someplace that requires integration or then don't have students who would be effective. "Integration" is not an answer. It's the only the beginning. HOW to integrate successfully is the question. It's been tried
many times in many ways in many places and yet, here we are still listening to radio programs lamenting the problem and simpletons responding with your response.  It's a sticky, difficult problem that involves housing patterns, income disparity and yes, deep cultural and sociological divisions. It's not easy. [b]Bussing doesn't work[/b], magnet schools maybe a little, voluntary desegregation maybe a little, but what can you propose that would help on a large scale?[/quote]

Part of what I took away from the TAL series was that bussing does work. It gets minority kids into white, high performing schools. The receiving schools aren't negatively impacted because they still have a majority of high SES families. Although the long bus ride is unpleasant for the bussed kids, it's better than the alternative. Of course, it would be better if all middle-to-upper class neighborhoods included more affordable housing so that a diverse bunch of kids (economically diverse, at least) would go to the nearby school. If affordable housing was evenly distributed around the country, we wouldn't have neighborhoods of concentrated poverty and schools that are overwhelmed by kids with high needs.[/quote]

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