Nearly 100 of Miami-Dade's 288 schools were already in uniform when the school board said any campus could switch if more than half the parents approved. Last March, when the New York City school board ordered all 670 elementary schools in uniform by fall 1999, more than 75,000 students were already wearing them. In 1995, the Los Angeles school board set a goal of getting all 600 schools in uniform. That may be the result of an 1996 lawsuit. The ACLU challenged Oakland's uniform policy and won a settlement under which the district agreed to more cash aid to needy parents for uniforms and to tell parents clearly they had a right to opt out.
Many schools raise money to buy uniforms for low-income parents.
For the first time this year, San Antonio required uniforms for all 60,000 students from kindergarten through high school. Lloyd Choice, principal at Houston's Jack Yates High School, says he'd always been skeptical about uniforms. Then his own students started lobbying for them. On opening day this fall, I tell you, it just brought tears to your eyes. My children are behaving so much better.