Editorial: Huntsville school dilemma no easy fix

From The Huntsville Times By From The Huntsville Times
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on February 27, 2011 at 11:00 AM, updated February 28, 2011 at 9:10 AM

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ The letter sent by the Department of Justice to Huntsville City Schools regarding the status of a 41-year-old desegregation order sure made one thing clear: Fixing the system's financial problems is going to be the easy part.

But the challenge of reaching true racial equality and fulfilling the goals of the 1970 desegregation order felt all the more difficult in reviewing the DOJ's response.

At its core, the challenge is balancing individual choice versus a legislated outcome.

To be clear, there are areas where the system can improve internally based on its hiring practices, closely watching where faculty is assigned and monitoring and managing discipline statistics.

But why is Johnson High 97 percent black and Grissom High 95 percent non-black, according to the 2007-2008 data supplied by Huntsville City Schools?

Demographers and social scientists have entire classes dedicated to why situations like this end up being the case. But let's consider two factors of free choice.

In general, citizens have freedom to live where they want. Obviously, there is a not-so-long-ago history in this country when that wasn't the case. But we're not breaking news by pointing out that Johnson High is in a predominantly black district, and Grissom is in a predominantly white neighborhood. In general, folks choose to live in those neighborhoods, albeit socio-economic status is a significant factor for many.

But under the desegregation order, students have the freedom to request transfers from majority-to-minority schools. And yet the enrollment demographics show little impact.

So what's the solution?

First, let's reiterate a position The Times will repeat over and over: The board, superintendent and consultant must be focused on fiscal stability first and foremost. Until the system is on solid financial ground, with money in the bank, bold solutions have little chance of becoming reality.

The conversation about how to deal with closing schools should consider the results of the demographic study being commissioned, and be a community-wide discussion. Dialogue such as the NAACP's Alice Sams using a provocative quote of President John F. Kennedy - "those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable" - or parents in south Huntsville passing letters to parents about the inevitability of busing do not help.

Meanwhile, while there is proper focus fixed on the current financial problems of the system, let's not miss the light at the end of the tunnel, which should be finding opportunities for new investment, both in programs and buildings.

First, the system should look at the opening of the new Lee High School as a transformative event for north Huntsville schools. While Lee is certainly not a true northwest Huntsville high school geographically, it should be utilized as a modern solution for offering advanced classes - in person and using technology in innovative ways. Monday's education page in The Times had an enlightening story about a laptop take-home program for nearly 300 eighth graders at Davis Hills and Westlawn, paid for mostly with grants.

Secondly, when the system is on sound financial footing, it must consider following through on a promise it made to north Huntsville when the consolidation committee agreed to close five schools. That plan, filed in federal court in 2008, pledged that the board would build a new school for the combined Terry Heights and University Place elementary schools. Obviously, a current assessment should be made to make sure the location remains a need, but the lack of follow-through on that point in the consolidation process is a dirty secret rarely raised.

Lastly, we must resurrect the spirit of community involvement that allowed Lincoln Elementary to be a model of success. At a school with challenging demographics, involvement from churches and volunteers helped generate some of the best test scores in the city. It remains a true shame we followed through in closing it.

Where are the other opportunities for similar programs? How can you get involved? Your company? Your church?

The reason Huntsville shouldn't need to be taken over by the state is because it has enough local tax support to pull itself out of its financial hole quickly. If we are judicious about hiring local school personnel, the system should be operating at a solid surplus in two to three years. That's money that can be used to update the system and alleviate stress points.



So here is a question to you: How would you define success in our school system?

By Kevin Wendt for the editorial board. E-mail: