‘School Investigation Could Result In Lawsuit’
Ann Arbor school officials anticipate three possible outcomes of a U.S. Justice Department investigation of segregated schools in Ann Arbor, Superintendent Richard Benjamin told the Board of Education Wednesday night. In a meeting with school officials Wednesday morning, Justice Department attorney Dawn Martin said the three-day investigation this week could result in no action or a lawsuit that could either be litigated or settled through a consent decree issued by a court. Under a consent decree, if a court found that Ann Arbor schools were illegally segregated, school officials would have to comply with some agreed-upon plan to rectify those conditions in the district, according to Benjamin. Litigating a lawsuit would probably take much longer and be more costly than reaching a settlement, he said. Although Martin, who is prohibited from speaking with the media under government policies, would not comment on the likelihood of a lawsuit against the Ann Arbor district, she requested a large amount of statistical information about the achievement levels of black and white students. 'I pledged full cooperation and support of all the staff (in the investigation),' said Benjamin. Benjamin also told the board that school officials were required to keep reporters from talking to Martin about the investigation. The investigation was the result of a letter a parent from the predominantly black Northside Elementary School sent to the Justice Department last year. Student enrollment at Northside is 81% black. The letter charged that students at Northside are receiving an inferior education. Northside is one of eight schools in the district considered segregated under state guidelines for racial balance. Under these guidelines, schools with a minority enrollment 15 percent above or below the district-wide average for that group are considered to be segregated. Those schools are: Bryant, Dicken, Freeman, Lakewood, Mack, Newport, Northside, and Stone. The Justice Department's attorney toured the Northside, Newport, Mack, and Roberto Clemente Student Wellness Center Wednesday. Clemente houses a special program for students who have discipline problems or have been suspended. Clemente has been a target of concern among black leaders because 50 percent of the students in the program are black. Martin is also scheduled to tour two more elementary schools today, Bryant and Lakewood, as well as Clague Intermediate and Huron High School. Tuesday night, Martin met with community leaders and parents from Northside, many of whom had pulled their children out of the school. A focus of the investigation is likely to be achievement disparities between black and white students, according to Jetwayn Hall, president of Northside's Parent Teacher Organization. Martin requested information about the racial breakdown of students in remedial classes and in lower-level groups within classrooms from elementary through high school, Benjamin said. Martin also asked for reports of student's test scores on standardized achievement tests. Examining classes in which students are grouped by ability level could be evidence of "tracking" or separating students by race and socioeconomic level. Martin will want to examine whether, for example, students from Northside tend to remain in remedial or lower level courses through high school. Northside's PTO presented a report to the board last week showing that 20 of the 28 sixth grade students at the school are scheduled to be in remedial reading courses when they start junior high school next fall. A citizen's committee appointed by the school board has been studying racial balance in the school district. The citizen's group , "The Committee on Excellence," is developing recommendations on racial balance, the closing of small schools and grade reorganization. Recommendations are expected by next fall.