It is one of the tragic paradoxes of our history in the last half of this century that the Brown decision which desegregated our schools was handed down just when romantic progressivism finally succeeded in abolishing the emphasis on traditional academic content in the early grades. By the 1970s and 80s the public schools into which our children were integrated were schools in which the traditional lore necessary to communication and full participation in our society was very inconsistently taught. This meant that children from privileged homes learned from their parents and peers the vocabulary and knowledge which the schools neglected to teach, whereas children who lacked such exposure to literate culture in their homes did not receive it at all. To those who had was given, even if not well, but from those who had not was taken away even that which they had. In the wake of the Brown decision, at the very moment of our highest hopes for social justice, the victory of progressivism over academic content had already foreclosed the chance that school integration would equalize achievement and enhance social justice.
Progressivism is a faulty theory at any time.
But as it came to dominate our public schools in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, it precipitated a social misfortune whose effects we can now see ever more acutely for instance, in the bitter debates going on over affirmative action. If school integration had actually achieved its promise, there would be ever less need for affirmative action in the colleges, because student achievement would be much more broadly distributed among social groups. It is certainly true that affirmative action at the college level can now modestly help the cause of social justice. Yet if it is true that educational deficiencies can be partly redeemed at age 18 by attending a good college, far, far more progress can be made towards equal opportunity by giving students a chance to attend a very good school from the earliest grades. Intelligent early intervention obviates the need for race-conscious intervention after so many children have already fallen through the cracks.