Opinion ID: 433833
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: legal precedent for including compensatory and remedial programs in desegregation remedies.

Text: 132 This Court suggested the necessity for remedial and compensatory programs in Adams v. United States, supra, 620 F.2d at 1296, and reiterated that need in Liddell V, supra, 677 F.2d at 641-642. We thus approve them in principle as law of the case. See supra p. 1304. Moreover, such programs have solid support in the case law as proper components of a desegregation remedy so long as they relate to the constitutional violation, are remedial in nature, and account for state and local autonomy. Milliken II, supra, 433 U.S. at 280-281, 97 S.Ct. at 2757. 133 In Brown I, the Supreme Court recognized that segregation harms black children by generating a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. Brown I, supra, 347 U.S. at 494, 74 S.Ct. at 691. In light of this harm, federal courts have often required the inclusion of remedial programs in desegregation plans to overcome the inequalities inherent in dual school systems. Milliken II, supra, 433 U.S. at 283, 97 S.Ct. at 2758. See, e.g., Arthur v. Nyquist, supra, 712 F.2d at 811; Oliver v. Kalamazoo Bd. of Educ., 640 F.2d 782, 789-790 (6th Cir.1980); Evans v. Buchanan, 582 F.2d 750, 767-769 (3d Cir.1978) (en banc), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 923, 100 S.Ct. 1862, 64 L.Ed.2d 278 (1980); United States v. Texas, 447 F.2d 441, 448 (5th Cir.1971); United States v. Jefferson County Bd. of Educ., 380 F.2d 385, 394-395 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 840, 88 S.Ct. 77, 19 L.Ed.2d 104 (1967); Berry v. School Dist. of Benton Harbor, 515 F.Supp. 344, 369-373 (W.D.Mich.1981), aff'd and remanded, 698 F.2d 813 (6th Cir.1983); United States v. Bd. of School Comm'rs of Indianapolis, 506 F.Supp. 657, 671-673 (S.D.Ind.1979), vacated in part on other grounds, 637 F.2d 1101 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 838, 101 S.Ct. 115, 66 L.Ed.2d 45 (1980). 134 Such programs assist students who previously attended all-Negro schools when those students transfer to formerly all-white schools.... The remedial programs ... are an integral part of a program for compensatory education to be provided Negro students who have long been disadvantaged by the inequities and discrimination inherent in the dual school system. Milliken II, supra, 433 U.S. at 284, 97 S.Ct. at 2759 (emphasis in original), quoting Plaquemines Parish School Bd. v. United States, 415 F.2d 817, 831 (5th Cir.1969). Crucial to the Supreme Court's analysis in Milliken II is the concept that segregation not only inflicts harm on individual black students, but also builds inadequacies [into the]    educational system. Milliken II, supra, 433 U.S. at 284, 97 S.Ct. at 2759 (emphasis added). Thus, to remedy the effects of a dual system which operated for decades with the sanction of law, remedial efforts must also concentrate on systemic educational improvements. 135 A secondary remedial objective of the quality education improvements is to enhance the appeal of the city school system, thereby promoting the chances of a stable and successful voluntary desegregation plan. The exodus of white parents and students out of fear of integration, or white flight, is no excuse for school officials to avoid desegregating. United States v. Scotland Neck City Bd. of Educ., 407 U.S. 484, 491, 92 S.Ct. 2214, 2218, 33 L.Ed.2d 75 (1972); Monroe v. Bd. of Comm'rs, 391 U.S. 450, 459, 88 S.Ct. 1700, 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 733 (1968). Yet, there is a valid distinction between using the defense of white flight as a smokescreen to avoid integration, and addressing the probability of white flight in attempting to formulate a voluntary plan which would improve the racial balance in the schools without at the same time losing the support and acceptance of the public. Higgins v. Bd. of Educ., 508 F.2d 779, 794 (6th Cir.1974) (emphasis in original); accord Parent Ass'n of Andrew Jackson High School v. Ambach, 598 F.2d 705, 719 (2d Cir.1979). A child's enrollment in a particular school is the result of two decisions: the government's student assignment, and the parents' decision to stay, move, or send their children to private school. Thus, as Professor James Coleman insists, government policies must, to be effective, anticipate parental decisions and obtain the parents' active cooperation. Coleman, New Incentives for Desegregation, 7 Human Rights 10, 13 (1978). Improving the quality of integrated schools consequently promotes parental acceptance of desegregation, and promotes the remedy's success. Gewirtz, Remedies and Resistance, 92 Yale L.J. 585, 652-653 (1983). See also Rossell & Hawley, Policy Alternatives for Minimizing White Flight, 4 Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 205 (1982). 136 The quality improvements for the all-black schools serve a further remedial objective. A strong presumption exists against the constitutional propriety of one-race schools, Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., supra, 402 U.S. at 26, 91 S.Ct. at 1281, and any desegregation plan leaving one-race schools must be carefully scrutinized. Id.; Lee v. Macon County Bd. of Educ., 616 F.2d 805, 809 (5th Cir.1980). To overcome this presumption of unconstitutionality, a court must find that the existence of one-race schools is justified in light of the particular facts of the case and the feasibility of other desegregation techniques. Armstrong v. Bd. of School Directors, 616 F.2d 305, 321-322 (7th Cir.1980); Tasby v. Estes, 572 F.2d 1010, 1014-1015 (5th Cir.1978). When no other feasible desegregation techniques exist, then specific remedial programs for students in the remaining one-race schools may be included as a means of ensuring equal educational opportunity. See, e.g., Tasby v. Wright, supra, 713 F.2d at 95-97; Clark v. Bd. of Educ. of Little Rock, supra, 705 F.2d at 272. 15 137 The district court held extensive hearings on the fairness of the quality education component, with lengthy testimony from local and State education officials, a number of expert witnesses, and representatives of the other parties. After reviewing the evidence and the recommendations of the court-appointed financial advisor, the court concluded that the programs fell within the proper remedial scope: 138 The sole purpose for the expenditure of funds under this Plan is to carry out the constitutional responsibility to remove the vestiges of a segregated school system.    139 In no way should any funding provisions presently authorized by the Court be construed to authorize expenditures unrelated to City Board's desegregation obligations under the Constitution and the Settlement Plan as approved. 140 Liddell v. Bd. of Educ., supra, 567 F.Supp. at 1051-1052. 141