Republicans in Kentucky Push to Re-Segregate Schools in Louisville

Will Conservatives Ever Get Rid of the Stench of Bigotry and Racism on Their Actions?

Time after time we have the conservatives insisting on local control of government, and improving public education.  And time after time we have them going back on their words when the outcome is not something they like.

The good local citizens of Louisville want to have diversity in their schools.  So they have devised a system which gives choice in schools but which also encourages a mixture of students in the schools.  And the good citizens like their system.  Here is just another example from the WaPo.

Many in Louisville, a Democratic stronghold, chafe at the notion that Republicans — known as the party of local control — want to override the wishes of local officials. Not only does the school board support desegregation via busing, but voters in board elections also have consistently rejected candidates who pledged a return to neighborhood schools.

“Local control as a principle goes out the window at convenience,” said Raoul Cunningham, president of the NAACP’s Louisville chapter.

The results of the program appear to be highly positive.

Research shows that isolating poor children is an ill-advised strategy for schools looking to boost low-income learning. Jefferson schools still struggle with achievement gaps — 61 percent of white elementary students are proficient or better in reading, compared with 31 percent of black students and 43 percent of Latino students. But the district has found that children in poor areas who attend mixed-income schools outperform neighbors who go to high-poverty schools.

So what is the non-problem here?  Well a couple of things.

1. The Louisville program makes public education better.  Republicans want to destroy public education and part of their rationale is that it does not do well.  So any program that improves public education must be attacked.

2. Race.  The Louisville program results in more integration.  Republicans are still hung up on that.

3. Party Politics.  Democrats are dominant in the Louisville area, so anything they are doing that is successful must be attacked.

The future, worse schools, lower funding, more attacks, more money diverted to private schools all damaging children in Louisville for the sake of partisan politics.