Opinion ID: 531041
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Junior High School Plan

Text: 68 The district court denied the plaintiffs' motion to compel the DCSS to file a junior high school plan because it concluded that the DCSS achieved maximum practical desegregation before the 1986-87 school year. Because we reverse the district court's conclusion that the DCSS achieved maximum practical desegregation, we order the district court to reconsider the plaintiffs' motion.D. Distribution of Educational Resources 69 The district court ordered the DCSS to assign experienced teachers and teachers with advanced degrees equally between primarily black and primarily white schools. The district court also ordered the DCSS to equalize per pupil expenditures. The DCSS appeals this portion of the district court order, arguing that the district court improperly assigned it the burden of proof. 14 70 To the extent that the district court required the DCSS to allocate educational resources in a race-neutral fashion, we affirm. We note, however, that the district court based its conclusion on an improper premise: that the DCSS may properly operate a segregated school system prior to reaching unitary status. 15 Under our holding, the DCSS must desegregate its students. When the system desegregates, most schools will no longer be racially identifiable and the DCSS will be unable to distribute resources in a racially imbalanced fashion. E. Disposition 71 For many years, the DCSS planned, contributed to, and directly caused racial segregation in its schools. By operating a dual system, the DCSS affected the hearts and minds of its students and may have contributed to the housing patterns that today cause school segregation. Swann, 402 U.S. at 20-21, 91 S.Ct. at 1278-79; Brown I, 347 U.S. at 494, 74 S.Ct. at 691. The law requires that the DCSS achieve unitary status. The DCSS, however, refuses to take affirmative action and seeks to justify its inaction with frivolous and long-rejected arguments. 72 To comply with our mandate, the DCSS's actions may be administratively awkward, inconvenient, and even bizarre in some situations and may impose burdens on some. Swann, 402 U.S. at 28, 91 S.Ct. at 1282. The DCSS must consider pairing and clustering of schools, drastic gerrymandering of school zones, and grade reorganization. See Swann, 402 U.S. at 27-28, 91 S.Ct. at 1281-82. The DCSS and the district court must consider busing--regardless of whether the plaintiffs support such a proposal. The DCSS's neighborhood plan is not inviolable. See Davis, 402 U.S. at 37-38, 91 S.Ct. at 1291-92. The DCSS's M-to-M program and magnet program do not alone suffice to desegregate the schools. We note that the M-to-M program is not likely to desegregate white schools. Without extensive expansion, the magnet school programs are not likely to materially desegregate the system. 16 73 After twenty years of court supervision, the DCSS continues to operate racially identifiable schools. The DCSS has never achieved unitary status and it retains the duty to eliminate all vestiges of the dual school system.