A Case Study in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Urban Education Reports Number Fourteen
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 346 231 UD 028 722 AUTHOR Stone, Frank Andrews TITLE Public Scnool Desegregation/Redesign: A Case Study in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Urban Education Reports Number Fourteen. INSTITUTION Connecticut Univ., Storrs. Thut (I.N.) World Education Center. REPORT NO ISBN-0-918158-374 PUB DATE 92 NOTE 127p. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Affirmative Action; Black Students; Case Studies; Cultural Context; *Desegregation Plans; *Educational Change; Elementary Secondary Etlucation; *Public Schools; *Racial Discrimination; Racial Relations; *School Desegregation; School Districts; School Restructuring; Social History; United States History; White Students IDENTIFIERS *Louisiana (Baton Rouge); Reform Efforts ABSTRACT This publication presents a case study of the public school desegregation and redesign program of the East Baton Rouge Parish (Louisiana) School System, focusing on the 5 years from 1987 to 1992. Chapter 1 describes the setting and background, the sociocultural history of the area since pre-Revolutionary War days, the role and treatment of African Americans, and the ements leading up to desegregation and redesign. Chapter 2 presents a'history of the redesign plan from 1987 to 1992, including school restructuring ideology, implementation, and the marketing of school enhancements. Chapter 3 discusses the school desegregation and redesign efforts through a review of research, media coverage, and evaluations; and it contains field study/participant observation data for this case study. Chapter 4 presents and analyzes findings and conclusions in light of public school issues in Connecticut where desegregation and school redesign are also issues. Included are 4 maps, 6 tables, 6 illustrations, a 102-item bibliography, a list of public school marketing brochures, a glossary, a Baton Rouge chronology, a Baton Rouge events calendar, and the author's letter of introduction to the public schools studied. Also included are extensive footnotes for each chapter. (JB) ********************************************************************t** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *w********************************************************************* A Tontei-nassr ANNIVERSARY PIAZICX1714 1971-1992 PUS= SODM assinewerwineassall A CASE SIM IN ow BAKIN REM IRRMH, Dr. Frank Andrews Stone Professor of InternationaEdUCatiOn The University of ConrActiout pi.NfAISS1ON T!)Nt U.S. DEPARTMENT IN OTHER THAN PAPER OIficef Educal:onal OF EDUCATION COPY -%:, NIN Resew( o and ImptovonwW E(RAN1EN BY EDUCATIONAL HEsouncE s CFNTER [ERICAINFORMATtON )c/Thsdocument nas bve, ecmved from Ihe repoxdo, ed ortgmatmg person or orgaruzahos Mm.or hanilesha,e bee, mane 0/74, ,epoduchon quality lo .frreove I., Ponds of vew Or men! do nel oprcur5 stated th,s cloce INi.'.)HMI\11( 4,1 C,i.N`,C_N neCe!,Saoly !eo!esent OEM DOS(tIon otPolicy offic!a! Urban Educatica RepOrtS Ntraber Fourteen THE ISAAC N. THVT WORLD EtUMTICII CENZER CENIIRO EEEEUMCICIN MUNDIAL LSAAC N.frwyr Box U-93, Whoa of Education The University of Cconecticut Storrs, cr 06269-2093 USA -1992- mem MoV &IJIUØI PUBLIC SCIECL DESEGREGA.TICtIMEDIMIGN A CASESTUDY IN EAST BATCH ROUGEPARISH,LOUISIANA Frank Andrews Stone Urban Education Reports Number Fourteen THE ISAAC N. THUT WORLD EDUCATION CENTER CENTRO DE EDUCACION MUNDIAL ISAAC N.THUT Box U-93, School of Education The University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut (c) 1992 by The Fellows and Associates of The Isaac N. Thut World Education Center All rights are reserved under the International and Pan American Copyright Conventions.No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo- copying, except for short exerpts in book reviews or material that has been reproduced in small quantities for non-profit instructional use, without written permissicn from the publisher. The Isaac N. Thut World Education Center Box U-93, School of Education The University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut 06269 The pilot edition of this publication is limited to sixty copies. Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Stone, Frank Andrews (1929- Public School Desegregation/Redesign: A Case Study in East Baton Rouge Parish Louisiana. Urban Education Reports, Number Fourteen 1. Public school desegregation in Baton Rouge, LA. 2. Restructuring a Louisiana parish public school system 3. School redesign in East Baton Rouge Parish ISBN 0-918158-374 DIMICIkTIM This study is for my friend Elizabeth HdTtomiSheff and her son Milo Sheff, the plaintiff in Sheff v. O'Neill Acknowledgements iv-v Foreword vi Chapter One:The Setting and Background 1-35 Chapter Two: A History ofthe Redesign Plan 36-54 Chapter Three: Desegregation and Redesign in Action in East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools 55-89 Chapter Four: Summary of Findings and Conclusions . 90-94 Bibliography 95 - 106 Glossary of Terms 107- 114 Appendices Appendix One: ABaton Rouge Chronology 115- 116 Appendix Too: A Baton Rouge Events Calendar 117 - 118 Appendix Three:Kathryn R. Dreher Letter 119 Public Education Committee Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ ii ILUISTRATIMS, MAPS AND TARIM Chapter One Map One - The Location of EBRPin the State of Louisiana 6 Map Two - Baton Rouge, Louisiana,1992 11 Map Three - East Baton RougeParish, Louisiana, 1990 13 Table One - Baton Rcuge and EBRPPopulation Statistics, 1840-1990 15 Table TWo - Ethnic/Racial PopulationDistribution in EBRP, 1990 16 Table Three - Buying Power Distributionin Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1992 18 Table Four - Comparative County BusinessPatterns: EBRP and Hartford 19 Chapter Two Illustration One -A Modern Replica of the"Red Stick" 37 Map One - Partial Mini-Map, EBRPSchools 39-40 Key to EBRP School System Illustration Two - Paxon Petro-ChemicalPlant 47 Chapter Three Table One - Enrollment in EBRPSchool Redesign Programs 63 Table Two - Racial Desegregation in EBRPCne-Race Redesign Schools 67 Illustration Three - LAE and EBRFTIdentification Tags 74 Illustration Four - Kenilworth MiddleSchool 80 Illustration Five - Winbourne ElementarySchool 82 Illustration Six - Capitol Middle School 84 iii Acknowledgements This inquiry began with a brief two day trip to first get acquaint- ed with Baton Rouge and southern Louisiana in late May, 1991. A period of documentary research followed before I was able to carry out a field study of the public school desegregation and redesign efforts in East Baton Rouge Parish (similar to a county) from January 6-16, 1992. My documentary resources were enriched by items in the collections and the assistance of librarians at eight institutions. I am most grateful to them. East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA The Lower Mississippi River Valley Collection, Special Collections, Hill Library, The Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA The Homer Babbidge Library, The University of Connecticut, Storrs,cr The Jessup Library, Bar Harbor, ME The Louisiana State Archives, 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA The Louisiana State Library, 760 Riverside Mall, Baton Rouge, LA The Morrison Library, The Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA Thorndike Library, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME Considerable information and perspectives were gleaned from articles or editorials in The Morning Advocate, TheState-Times, and the South Baton Rouge Journal. Nightly news coverage of public school issues on television station WAFB, Channel Nine, Baton Rouge, heightened my under- standing. The staff at the East Baton Rouge School Board Offices, 1050 South Foster Drive , assisted me to obtain relevant publications. I also attended a confrontational meeting of the School Board when the repre- sentatives of the school employees' unions presented their disagree- ments with impending board policy.The personnel at the School Re- design Office, Valley Park Administration Center, 4510 Bawell Street, kindly discussed the operation of the school redesign program with me, gave me additional materials about it, andfacilitated participant observation in three schools. I was able to visit classes and talk iv with administrators and teachers at Cmpitol MiddleSchool, 4200 Gus Young Avenue; Kenilworth Middle School,7600 Boone Drive; and Winbourne Elementary School, 4501 Winbourne Avenue. It would have been much harder to carry outthis field study without the hospitality and cooperation of our daughter,Ruth Sevim Stone. She is currently a masters' student of culturalgeography at LSU. Ruth helped me work out routes to get to my destinations and accompanied me on trips to see the Acadian Historical Museumin Lafayette; visit the Amistad Research Center, TtlaneUniversity, New Orleans; tour the Saint Francisville area of WestFeliciana Parish; examine the LSU Rural Life Museum and Village, Baton Rouge;and travel to Grand Isle, LA overlooking the Gulf of Mexicoonly about a hundred fifty miles from Baton Rouge. I appreciate the interest of my colleagues andstudents, who encouraged me to risk carrying out this research project. The Head of the Educational Leadership Department at The University of Conn- ecticut, where my Educational StudiesSection homebase is located, gave me permission to be away forthe time required for the study. MS. Kathryn R. Dreher, Chair, Pdblic Education Committee,Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ, wrote a lettersupporting the inquiry. All along my fellow members of this group