Community Mobilization, Race, and the Politics of Student Assignment in San Francisco
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CLASS ACTION: COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION, RACE, AND THE POLITICS OF STUDENT ASSIGNMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Rand Quinn March 2011 2011 by Rand A Quinn. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/xc705bk6458 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Leah Gordon, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Milbrey McLaughlin, Co-Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Michael Kirst I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Francisco Ramirez Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii Abstract The principal goal of the dissertation is to explain the political nature and effect of cultural characterizations on the development of student assignment policy. Cultural characterizations are socially constructed portrayals that become influential when stakeholders mobilize to bring about change. In education, as the professional authority of school boards and superintendents diminishes, community stakeholders are increasingly prominent. They serve as critical producers and providers of cultural characterizations of public education and its beneficiaries. As such, the engagement of community stakeholders with public sector institutions, organizations, and individuals can significantly amplify, modify, or blunt education policy. The dissertation traces the history of community mobilization in San Francisco from 1971 to 2005, during which the federal district court supervised all aspects of the school district’s student assignment policy. Cultural characterizations of student assignment were structured by three distinct logics of action: integration, choice, and neighborhood. These logics were stable but not fixed. Changes in the institutional environment coupled with how stakeholders framed, understood, and shaped these logics led to transformations in student assignment policy that ultimately altered the educational experience of multiple generations of public school students. The dissertation is presented in two parts, each with a class action lawsuit against the school district at its analytical core, and each focused on the politics, both contentious and collaborative, that guided the community stakeholders who sought to protect, or iv dismantle, the status quo student assignment system. The main story of Part One is the replacement of a bipolar desegregation framework for student assignment with a multipolar integration framework. Part Two addresses a second transformation in student assignment, the replacement of a race conscious integration framework with a race neutral diversity framework. A central theme addressed in the dissertation is the decline of school desegregation and the subsequent rise of school choice. San Francisco experienced demographic shifts similar to many cities throughout the West: the arrival and subsequent departure of African American families, the arrival of immigrant families from Mexico and countries throughout Central America and Asia, and the departure of white families. As such, San Francisco provides an opportunity to illuminate the post- Brown racial dynamics of community mobilization in the urban district of the West. Data are drawn primarily from archival documents from the federal district court, the school district, and community organizations; mainstream and community newspaper articles, letters to the editor, and editorials; and, retrospective interviews with key stakeholders. v Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of mentors, colleagues, friends, and family. I am indebted to the members of my reading committee, Leah Gordon, Milbrey McLaughlin, Michael Kirst, and Francisco Ramirez, for their careful feedback, sage advice, and steady encouragement. Anthony Antonio, a friend from way back, provided helpful comments during the oral exam that sharpened my ideas for this project’s next phase. I owe a special debt to Deb Meyerson. She oversaw nearly every milestone I had at Stanford and advised the great majority of the dissertation, from idea to proposal, to data collection, to analysis. I thank Ann Porteus, George Lipsitz, Megan Tompkins-Stange, Mytoan Nguyen, Monica McDermott, Doug McAdam, and Luis Fraga, for providing crucial feedback during the early stages of the project. Foremost among the many librarians and archivists to whom I owe special thanks are Susan Snyder of the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley, Tami Suzuki of the San Francisco History Center, Charles Miller of the National Archives and Records Administration, and Wei Chi Poon of the Ethnic Studies Library at U.C. Berkeley. I thank the special collections librarians at Stanford, Berkeley, and Santa Barbara, and the reference librarians at the San Francisco Public Library, the San Francisco Law Library, and the Robert Crown Law Library. I also thank the folks at the Federal Records Center in San Bruno where I spent many, many long days. Brenda Huang, a friend and former colleague, provided valuable insight into the local Chinese media landscape and facilitated an introduction to Tim Lau, chief executive at Sing Tao Daily. Hai Yang, Claire Kwan, and Qinglian Lu made an important contribution to the study by identifying and translating relevant articles from Sing Tao Daily and Chinese Times. This was an immense task that required reviewing, by hand, hundreds of newspapers. Much of this work occurred at Sing Tao Daily’s newspaper morgue, which Mr. Lau generously allowed us to access. I thank my informants for sharing their wisdom and perspective. Several were kind enough to lend personal papers, vi organizational records, newspaper clippings and other artifacts that greatly contributed to my understanding. My most sincere thanks goes to Doug Chan, David Levine, Miranda Massie, Libby Denebeim, Henry Louie and Denise Louie. Midway through the project, I received very helpful feedback and support from the members of the BGSA and SUSE dissertation writing groups. For this, I thank Erica Williams, Courtney Bonam, Donna Winston, Maria Hyler, Carla Roach, and especially Hayin Kim. Other friends lent support in various ways, large and small, all along the way, including Carrie Oelberger, Lambrina Mileva, Nii Addy, Chris Gonzalez Clarke, Marcela Muñiz, Stelios Orphanos, Jeffrey Steedle, Brian Lukoff, Grace Atukpawu, Peter Ross, and David Diehl. Institutional support was crucial to the successful completion of the dissertation. Some early musings benefited from the input of colleagues and mentors at the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. As the study progressed, critical feedback from graduate and faculty fellows at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity served to sharpen my analysis. A graduate fellowship from CCSRE and awards from the School of Education Dissertation Support Grant and the Vice Provost for Graduate Education Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity Fund supported the research and writing. Most of all, I’m grateful for Amy Yuen and the love we’ve shared through the years. Together, we thank our parents, siblings, and extended family for their support and encouragement. vii In memory of Jeffrey Trinidad (1974-2002) and B. J. Alisago (1975- 2005). viii Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi Tables x Illustrations xi Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Literature 19 Conceptual Framework 30 Context, Data, and Methods 41 Notes 59 PART ONE. Desegregating San Francisco Schools, 1971-1983 70 SFNAACP v. SFUSD 77 Crosstown Busing 101 Freedom of Choice 120 “On a long road. .” 127 Notes 134 PART TWO. School Diversity and Resegregation by Consent, 1983-2005 151 Ho v. SFUSD 158 School Lottery 203 Neighborhood Schools 223 “The greatest disappointment.” 244 Notes 253 Conclusion 284 Notes 301 Methodological Addendum 302 Appendix 306 Bibliography 337 ix Tables Table 1. San Francisco postwar demographic changes 43 Table 2. SFUSD student population by subgroup (percent), 1965-1978 86 Table 3. Elementary school level racial balance with ±15 percent standard, 1971 92 Table 4. Share of districtwide subgroup population (percent), c1971 93 Table 5. Racial percentages by Horseshoe Zone, c1971 93 Table 6. School level racial balance with ±15 percent standard, 1977 94 Table 7. Racial balance in SFUSD school assignment plans 96 Table 8. SFSUD School budget before and after Prop. 13 (in millions) 98 Table 9. What San Francisco thinks about