A Splendid Mini-Workaround for Inequalities in School Funding
In Affluent Districts, Guardianships Can Establish Student Residency
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of what I think to be one of the most unfortunate and misguided U.S. Supreme Court decisions of modern times: San Antonio Independent School District vs. Rodriguez. (1)
“(T)he Court held that there is no constitutional right to an equal education. In so doing, it declined to address a fundamental problem that has undermined American public education ever since. The problem, quite simply, is inequality of resources.” (2)
“Predictably, school districts with wealthy residents spend much more per student on average than school districts with poor residents. This ‘local control’ is backed up by the power of the state, which effectively reinforces the advantages of wealth and perpetuates the disadvantages of poverty from one generation to the next. The system exacerbates inequality and defeats the notion that in America every person has a fair chance to succeed.” (2)
One might categorize disparities in school funding as institutionalized racism. Indeed, it can (and, I daresay, should) be construed as one of the most – if not, the most – pernicious of all of society’s have-and-have-not disparities. The San Antonio case effectively enshrined it.
So if we can’t direct adequate resources to poor districts – can we place disadvantaged students in wealthy districts?
Aye, there’s the rub. Almost invariably, children are compelled to attend in the districts where they reside. Apart from using school vouchers (where they exist) or paying out-of-district tuition, there are virtually no opportunities to attend elsewhere. Schools stay segregated.
On a micro basis, one man has developed an innovative method for overcoming student residency issues.
Through his InZone project, Terrence Wallace has leveraged the purchase of a residence in a well-to-do community with guardianships.
The arrangements afford “...10 boys the opportunity to attend eighth through 12th grade in the award-winning Barrington (IL) School District.” (3)
By way of the guardianships, Wallace’s home in Barrington confers residency status on the students.
"’So I take legal guardianship of the kids from the inner cities of Chicago,’ Wallace said. ‘The beautiful part of this is we don't separate them from their biological mom. Biological moms are part of it and we co-parent together and it's this blended family.’" (3)
"’I think that we have struck gold in some regards because seeing the results of our kids now, it has been really, really special,’ (Wallace) said. ‘And how they show up at school, not trying to be anything that they are not. They haven't given up their Black card to participate in Barrington High School. That's the part I really, really appreciate.’" (3)
For more information, see www.InZoneProject.org.
Sources:
(1) https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/411/1%23
(2) https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-1973-supreme-court-decision-has-contributed-to-our-inequality
(3) https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/inzone-helps-chicago-boys/
Counterpoint: https://www.heritage.org/education/report/the-myth-racial-disparities-public-school-funding