Cynthia G. Brown, Citizens??? Commission on Civil RightsMay 2004
The "Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights" is a twenty-year-old private organization supported by the Spencer, Ford, and Hewlett foundations. Nominally bipartisan, it consists primarily of prominent Democrats and is dedicated to "monitor[ing] the civil rights policies of the federal government" and advancing the cause of civil rights. The primary author of this 130-page report is Cynthia (Cindy) Brown, a veteran civil rights advocate who during the Carter Administration held top civil-rights posts in H.E.W. and then the Education Department. This study examines implementation of the Title I public-school choice provision of NCLB in 2002-3 and 2003-4, based primarily on data from a dozen states that responded conscientiously to the Commission's request for information. Its conclusions are surprisingly bullish - surprising both because of the widely reported implementation challenges that this new program element has been encountering and because of what might have been expected to be this Commission's view of school choice. The authors found widespread parent enthusiasm for choice, albeit greater demand than supply; some communities in which sizable numbers of children have been able to opt into better-performing schools thanks to this provision; and some evidence that these choices are leading to greater racial integration. They note, however, that many "advantaged" school districts resist taking in kids from neighboring districts with many schools "in need of improvement" and lament (as do I) the weakness of NCLB's "flabby" provision for inter-district transfers. (In a word, it's optional.) A whole raft of recommendations follows for making these provisions of NCLB work better and just about all of them seem sound. In sum, a thoughtful, encouraging and helpful piece of work. You can find it online by clicking here.
