School reform breaks ‘segregation’

Education Secretary Rod Paige yesterday likened opponents of the Bush administration school reforms to racial segregationists of an earlier era who “bred racism” by confining blacks to separate, inferior schools.

“Racism cannot end as long as there is an achievement gap” between white and minority students, who in some cities, such as the District, are up to 70 points apart on standardized reading and mathematics tests, the secretary said.

The Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education struck down the practice of separate schools for whites and blacks. The decision “began a process to make our citizens and our institutions fully respect every American citizen,” Mr. Paige told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

The president’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 “is the next step after Brown. It addresses latent segregation, a de facto apartheid that is emerging in some of our schools” a half-century after pro-segregation state officials and legislatures, mostly in the South, waged “massive resistance” against the Brown ruling, he said.

The act requires schools that receive a portion of the $12.4 billion yearly in federal Title I funds for low-income communities to demonstrate improved student scores on reading and mathematics standardized tests.

Mr. Paige did not name the critics of the reform, but major opposition has been led by the 2.7-million-member National Education Association, the largest union for schoolteachers. Within Congress and state governments, critics include mostly Democratic politicians who share the NEA’s liberal philosophy.

“I find it staggering that the very critics and organizations that fought so hard for civil rights could leave minority children behind,” Mr. Paige said.

“Some of the very people and organizations that applauded Brown and worked to implement it are now opposing No Child Left Behind — unions, teachers, civil libertarians, liberal politicians and education advocates. Why? Because it exposes their special interests.”

Reg Weaver, the NEA’s president, responded that No Child Left Behind has “many flaws” that make it virtually impossible for teachers and school-support personnel to implement. He said the law is inadequately funded.

“We need to fix and fund the so-called No Child Left Behind,” Mr. Weaver said in an interview. “It’s a sad commentary when you cannot speak out about something that you disagree with without being called names.”

Asked how critics’ opposition to the law warrants them being likened to racial segregationists, Mr. Paige said, “Whether their motive comes from some compliance to political ideology that might be elevated above the interests of children, or whether it is just a misunderstanding of the law or the intent, I’m not at all certain. The fact that they are on the wrong side of history is what concerns me.

“I am concerned about why this idea of the achievement gap and its devastation is so silent, it’s stealth, and people don’t quite get it yet. I just don’t believe that racism can be eliminated without facing this.”