INFORMATION TO USERS

This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the
most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document
have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material
submitted.
The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand
markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction.
1.The sign or “ target” for pages apparently lacking from the document
photographed is “Missing Page(s)” . If it was possible to obtain the missing
page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages.
This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating
adjacent pages to assure you of complete continuity.
2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark it is an
indication that the film inspector noticed either blurred copy because of
movement during exposure, or duplicate copy. Unless we meant to delete
copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed, you will find a
good image of the page in the adjacent frame.
3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photo­
graphed the photographer has followed a definite method in “sectioning”
the material. It is customary to begin filming a t the upper left hand comer
of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with
small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning
below the first row and continuing on until complete.
4. For any illustrations that cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by
xerography, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and
tipped into your xerographic copy. Requests can be made to our
Dissertations Customer Services Department.
5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases we
have filmed the best available copy.

University
Microfilms
International
3 0 0 N. Z E E B R O A D , A N N A R B O R , Ml 4 8 1 0 6
18 B E D F O R D ROW, L O N D O N WC 1 R 4 E J , E N G L A N D

8112174

W e b b , W il l ia m L e l a n d

A STUDY OF THE DESEGREGATION OF THE LANSING, MICHIGAN
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND THE EFFECTS OF THAT
DESEGREGATION ON WHITE AND NON-WHITE ENROLLMENT

Michigan State University

University
Microfilms
International

PH.D.

300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

1980

A STUDY OF THE DESEGREGATION OF THE
LANSING, MICHIGAN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS AND THE EFFECTS OF
THAT DESEGREGATION ON
WHITE AND NON-WHITE
ENROLLMENT

By
William L. Webb

A DISSERTATION
Submitted t o
Michigan S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y
in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i re m e n ts
f o r t h e deg re e o f
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department o f A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and
Higher Education
1980

ABSTRACT
A STUDY OF THE DESEGREGATION OF THE
LANSING, MICHIGAN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS AND THE EFFECTS OF
THAT DESEGREGATION ON
WHITE AND NON-WHITE
ENROLLMENT
By
William L. Webb

Since t h e United S t a t e s Supreme Court in 1954 a d j u d i c a t e d in
Brown v. Topeka t h a t th e n o ti o n o f s e p a r a t e but equal had no p la c e
in American e d u c a t i o n , school d e s e g r e g a t i o n has been a v o l a t i l e
issue.

Few o t h e r e v e n ts in American l i f e have so permeated American

th ough t and a c t i o n .

The i s s u e o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s an

e x trem ely emotional one and in c e r t a i n s e t t i n g s s t i l l d e f i e s r a t i o n a l
and a n a l y t i c a l s c r u t i n y .

D e t r a c t o r s o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n have

blamed d e c l i n e in s t u d e n t ac hiev em en t, m in o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e
in urban c i t i e s , and m i n o r i t y i n c r e a s e in school p o p u la tio n on school
desegreation.

However, a c l o s e r look a t what have been some o f th e

cause and e f f e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f school d e s e g r e a t i o n , d o e s n ' t
n e c e s s a r i l y b e a r o u t t h a t school d e s e g r e g a t i o n al one has been th e
cause o f white f l i g h t and urban non-white m a j o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n s in
American urban c i t i e s .
This study was de sig ne d t o determ ine what e f f e c t s d e s e g r e g a ­
t i o n e f f o r t s had on t h e elem entary e n r o l lm e n t o f one medium s i z e d

William

L.

Webb

school d i s t r i c t , t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t , Lansing, Michigan.
The s tu d y sought t o a d d r e ss t h r e e s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n s :
1.

Did d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s in t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t

have a s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t on th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t change in th e
elem entary s chools f o r e i t h e r white or non-white s t u d e n t s ?
2.

Did membership in a c l u s t e r make a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e

in t h e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change f o r e i t h e r white or non-white
students?
3.

Is t h e r e a t i p p i n g p o i n t which f u n c t i o n s in th e elemen­

t a r y s c h o o ls o f t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t ?
The f i n d i n g s o f t h i s stu d y were:
1.

There was a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in th e r a t e o f e n r o l l ­

ment change r e l a t e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

This was t r u e f o r both wh ite

and non-white e n r o l l m e n t with t h e d i f f e r e n c e in change f o r both
groups being in th e same d i r e c t i o n .

The r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t change

f o r white s t u d e n t s , which was d e c l i n i n g b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n , e v i ­
denced an i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e of d e c l i n e with th e im plem en tation of
desegregation.

Non-white e n r o l l m e n t s , which had been growing p r i o r

t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n , c o n tin u ed t o grow a f t e r th e implem en tation o f
d e s e g r e g a t i o n , b u t a t a s i g n i f i c a n t l y lower r a t e .
2.

Membership in a c l u s t e r was n o t shown t o have a s i g n i f i ­

c a n t impact on e n r o l lm e n t change in L a n s i n g 's ele m e n ta r y s c h o o ls f o r
e i t h e r wh ite o r non-white s t u d e n t s .

Schools which were n a t u r a l l y

i n t e g r a t e d p r i o r t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n and, t h e r e f o r e , ne ver became
members o f a c l u s t e r m ain ta in e d e n r o l l m e n t b e t t e r than t h e s e s c h o o ls
which were n o t i n t e g r a t e d p r i o r t o d e s e g r e a t i o n and th u s were made

W i l l i a m L.

members o f a c l u s t e r .

Webb

This p a t t e r n began s e v e r a l y e a r s b e f o r e th e

implementation o f t h e c l u s t e r , however, and no a l t e r a t i o n in t h i s
t r e n d was shown a t t h e p o i n t o f c l u s t e r implementation o r in th e
y e a r s f o llo w in g t h a t implemen tation .
3.

The pr e se n c e o f a t i p p i n g p o i n t in t h e Lansing School

D i s t r i c t ' s e lem entary s c h o o ls was n o t confirmed by t h i s s tu d y .
In d iv i d u a l s c h o o ls with more than 30 p e r c e n t non- white e n r o l l m e n t s
p r i o r t o f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n (September 1976) were n o t shown t o be
more l i k e l y t o have s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d in p e r c e n t o f non-white
e n r o l lm e n t by t h e end o f t h e study than were s c h o o ls with 29 p e r c e n t
non-white e n r o l lm e n t o r l e s s p r i o r t o f i n a l d e s e g r e a t i o n .

Even when

viewed as a group schools wit h more than 30 p e r c e n t non-white
e n r o l l m e n t p r i o r t o f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n showed no s i g n i f i c a n t l y
g r e a t e r gain in non-white e n r o l l m e n t by t h e end o f t h e stu d y than
th e group o f s c h o o ls with l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t non-white e n r o l lm e n t
p r io r to fin a l desegregation.

This d i s s e r t a t i o n i s d e d i c a t e d t o my
w i f e , Sue, w i th o u t whose s u p p o r t and
d e d i c a t e d help i t would n o t have
been p o s s i b l e and t o my p a r e n t s
who pr ovided c o n s t a n t s u p p o r t
and m o t i v a t i o n .

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The hel p and encouragement o f t h e f o ll o w i n g per so ns i s g r a t e ­
f u l l y acknowledged:
Dr. H e r b e rt C. Rudman, whose encouragement and s u p p o r t was
unwavering dur in g t h e w r i t i n g o f t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n .
The members o f my committee, Dr. James C o s t a r , Dr. A l b e r t
Levak, and Dr. Louis Romano whose a s s i s t a n c e was g r e a t l y a p p r e c i a t e d .
Dr. I . Carl C a n d o li , former S u p e r i n t e n d e n t o f th e Lansing
School D i s t r i c t , who encouraged and s upport ed th e b e g inning o f t h i s
venture.
Dr. Eva Evans, a f r i e n d and c o l l e a g u e who was always ready
t o he lp.
Rob Young, who provide d t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e whenever needed.
Leah Graham, a f r i e n d who provide d c o n s t a n t encouragement
and help .

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................

vi

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................... v i i i
Chapter
I.

II.

III.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.......................................................................

1

I n t r o d u c t i o n .....................................................
Background..................................................................................................
Purpose o f t h e S tu d y ............................................................................
Importance o f t h e S t u d y ...................................................................
The Scope and D e l i m i t a t i o n of t h e S t u d y ...............................
L i m i t a t i o n s o f t h e S t u d y...................................................................
D e f i n i t i o n s ..............................................................................................
H ypothes es ..................................................................................................
Overview o f th e D i s s e r t a t i o n ..........................................................

1
4
10
10
12
12
12
14
14

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE...............................................................

15

Legal Background.....................................................................................
R e la t e d S t u d i e s .....................................................................................
Sum mary.......................................................................................................

15
23
48

METHODS AND PROCEDURES............................................................................

50

P o p u l a t i o n ..............................................................................................
P r o c e d u r e s ..................................................................................................
Design and Methodology o f th e S t u d y ........................................
Hypothes es ..................................................................................................
General Hypothesis 1........................................................................
General Hypothesis I I ...................................................................
General Hypothes is I I I ...................................................................
Summary.......................................................................................................

50
50
58
56
66
67
67
68

iv

Chapter
IV.

Page

FINDINGS...................................................................

69

Hypothesis I .........................................................................................
O p e r a t io n a l Hypothesis l a .....................................................
O p e r a t io n a l Hypothesis Ic ......................................................
O p erational Hypothesis lb .....................................................
O p e r a tio n a l Hypothesis Id .....................................................
Hypothesis I I .....................................................................................
O p e r a t io n a l Hypothesis I l a .....................................................
O p e r a tio n a l Hypothesis l i b ......................................................
Hypothesis I I I .....................................................................................
O p erati onal Hypothesis I l i a ....................................................
Summary.......................................................................................................

69
70
73
74
77
83
83
89
94
94
97

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.........................................................................

99

D i s c u s s i o n ..............................................................................................
I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r F u r t h e r R esea rch ................................................

101
Ill

BIBLIOGRAPHY

...........................................................................................................

116

APPENDICES................................................................................................................

120

A.

C l u s t e r G r o u p s ..........................................................................................

121

B.

Map o f t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t ..............................................

123

C.

Locatio n o f C l u s t e r and No n- Cluster Schools

125

v

........................

LIST OF TABLES

Table

Page

1

Fourth Frid ay Elementary Eth nic Count ............................................

52

2

Number and P e r c e n t o f White and Non-White Enrollment
C h a n g e . ...........................................................................................................

53

3

Group 1, C l u s t e r s I and I I Implemented September 1972 . . .

54

4

Group 2, C l u s t e r I I I Implemented September 1973 ........................

55

5

Group 3, C l u s t e r s IV, V, and VI Implemented September
1976....................................................................................................................

56

6

Group 4, Non C l u s t e r s ..................................................................................

57

7

Change in th e P e r c e n t o f Non-White E nrollm en t from
September 1976 t o January 1979..........................................................

59

Frequency o f Total Live B i r t h s in Ingham County by Age
and E t h n i c / R a c i a l C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f th e Mother,
1970-1977 .......................................................................................................

63

P ercentage o f Total Live B i r t h s i n Ingham County by Age
and E t h n i c / R a c i a l C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e Mother,
1970-1977 .......................................................................................................

64

A n a ly s is o f Covariance Table f o r O p e r a ti o n a l Hypothesis
l a .........................................................................................................................

72

11

A n a ly s is o f

Covariance Table f o r Hypothesis I c ...........................

76

12

A n a ly s is of Covariance Table f o r O p e r a ti o n a l Hypothes is
l b .........................................................................................................................

79

13

A n a ly s is o f

Covariance Table f o r Hypothesis I d ...........................

82

14

A n a ly s is o f Covariance Table f o r White Enrollm ent
Change. 1972 C l u s t e r s vs. N o n - C l u s te r .........................................

86

A n a ly s is o f Covariance Table f o r White Enr ollm en t Change.
1973 C l u s t e r s vs. N o n - C l u s t e r ...........................................................

87

8

9

10

15

vi

Table

Page

16

A naly s is o f Covariance Table f o r White Enrollment Change.
1976 C l u s t e r vs. N o n - C l u s t e r ...................................................................88

17

A n a ly s is o f Covariance Table f o r Non-White Enrollment
Change.
1972 C l u s t e r vs. N on- Cluster .........................................

91

A n a ly s is o f Covariance Table f o r Non-White Enrollment
Change.
1973 C l u s t e r vs. N on- Cluster ..........................................

92

A n a ly s is o f Covar iance Table f o r Non-White Enrollment
Change.
1976 C l u s t e r vs. Non- Cluster .........................................

93

18
19
20

Tipping E f f e c t ........................................................................................................96

v ii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure
1
2
3
4
5
6

Page

M u lt i p l e Re gr es sio n Line f o r White Enrollment
1967-68 .......................................................................................................

71

Rate o f Change of White Enrollment Between Each
Year 1967-68..............................................................................................

75

M u lt ip le Regression Line f o r Non White Enro llmen t
1967-68 .......................................................................................................

78

Rate o f Change o f Non-White Enrollment Between Each
Year 1967-78..............................................................................................

81

Rate o f White Enrollment Changes, C l u s t e r vs.
N o n - C l u s t e r ..............................................................................................

85

Rate o f Non-White Enrollment Changes C l u s t e r vs.
N o n - C l u s t e r ..............................................................................................

90

vi i i

CHAPTER I
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem f o r study i s t o d i s c e r n whether i n one middles i z e d urban school d i s t r i c t , t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t , s u b s t a n t i v e
w h ite f l i g h t from th e d i s t r i c t has o c c u r re d and i f any w h ite f l i g h t
measured i s t h e r e s u l t o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s i n t h e e l em entary
s c h o o ls .
Introduction
Since t h e United S t a t e s Supreme Court in 1954 a d j u d i c a t e d
in Brown v. Topeka t h a t th e n o t io n o f s e p a r a t e b u t equal had no p l a c e
in American e d u c a t i o n , school d e s e g r e g a t i o n has been a v o l a t i l e
issue.

Few o t h e r e v e n ts in American l i f e have so permeated American

th o u g h t and a c t i o n .

The i s s u e o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s an

e x trem ely emotional one and in c e r t a i n s e t t i n g s s t i l l d e f i e s
r a t i o n a l and a n a l y t i c a l s c r u t i n y .

D e t r a c t o r s o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n

have blamed d e c l i n e i n s t u d e n t achievem en t, m i n o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n
i n c r e a s e in urban c i t i e s , and m i n o r i t y i n c r e a s e in school p o p u l a t i o n
on school d e s e g r e a t i o n .

However, a c l o s e r look a t what have been

some o f t h e cause and e f f e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n ,
does not n e c e s s a r i l y b e a r o u t t h a t school d e s e g r e g a t i o n a l o n e has
been t h e cause o f wh ite f l i g h t and an i n c r e a s i n g urban m i n o r i t y
p o p u l a t i o n in American c i t i e s .
1

2
In an e a r l y stu d y which caused much de bate and s t i m u l a t e d
a number o f r e l a t e d s t u d i e s , James Coleman s t a t e d t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n
in a school d i s t r i c t does a c c e l e r a t e t h e l o s s o f white s t u d e n t s . ^
He went on t o say t h a t n o t only does t h e l o s s o f wh ite f a m i l i e s from
urban a r e a s have a n e g a t i v e impact on th o s e a r e a s , b u t i t a l s o
r e s u l t s i n a r e s e g r e g a t i o n of t h e s c h o o ls o r i g i n a l l y d e s e g r e g a t e d .
David Armor s i m i l a r l y i n t e r p r e t e d th e r e s u l t s o f s t u d i e s he
conducted t o show t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n does r e s u l t in i n c r e a s e d white
loss.

Armor went on t o say t h a t t h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y t r u e when th e

d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s f o r c e d on a d i s t r i c t , in v o lv e s busing white s t u d e n t s
t o s c h o o ls with t o t a l o r l a r g e m i n o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n s , and t h e d i s t r i c t
2
e n r o l lm e n t s exceed 10 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y .
Other r e s e a r c h e r s have d i s p u t e d th e c o n c l u s io n s re ached by
Coleman and Armor.

C h r i s t i n e R o s se ll has i n d i c a t e d t h a t "school
3
d e s e g r e g a t i o n has l i t t l e o r no e f f e c t on white f l i g h t . "
She f e e l s

t h a t Coleman's o p p o s i t e c o n c l u s io n i s due t o " e r r o r in h i s measure
4
o f t h e phenomenon" c i t i n g s t u d i e s o f h er own t o s u p p o r t t h i s con­
clusion.
^James S. Coleman, " L i b e r t y and E q u a li t y in School Desegre­
g a t i o n , " Social P o l i c y , Vol. 6, No. 4 ( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 9-13.
2

David J . Armor, White F l i g h t Demographic T r a n s i t i o n and the
Future o f School D es eg reg a ti o n ( S anta Monica: The Rand C o r p o r a t i o n ,
1978), pp. 1-77.
3
C h r i s t i n e H. R o s s e l l , "School Desegre ga ti on and White
F l i g h t , " P o l i t i c a l S cience Q u a r t e r l y , Vol. 90, No. 4 (Winter 19767 7 ) , p. 676.
^Ibid.

3
Reynolds F a r le y s i m i l a r l y d i s p u t e s Coleman's c o n c l u s i o n s .
F a r le y f e e l s t h a t not only does d e s e g r e g a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g t h e busing
of s t u d e n t s t o ach iev e i t , n o t cause wh it e f l i g h t b u t t h a t i t i s a
5
good s h o r t range s o l u t i o n to a major urban problem.
Gary O r f i e l d s t a t e s t h a t a t t r i b u t i n g t h e d i f f e r e n c e in t h e
number of w h i te s b e f o r e and a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n s o l e l y t o white
f l i g h t i g n o re s t h e d e c l i n i n g e n r o l lm e n t t r e n d , e s t a b l i s h e d p a t t e r n s
o f white movement t o s u b u r b s , and l o c a l c i r c u m s ta n c e s which occur
s i m u l t a n e o u s l y with d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

He c l a i m s , in f a c t , t h a t d e s e g r e ­

g a t i o n of s c h o o ls can have a r e v e r s e e f f e c t by en couraging a growth
in i n t e g r a t e d housing.

O r f i e l d a s s e r t s t h a t w h ile w h ite s w i l l not

remain in o r move i n t o a l a r g e l y m i n o r i t y neighborhood i f i t i n c l u d e s
a l l m i n o r i t y s c h o o l s , the y may make such a move i f given a s s u r a n c e
o f i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls .

6

Another phenomenon o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n which has r e c e i v e d much
a t t e n t i o n i s t h e so c a l l e d t i p p i n g p o i n t .

Michael G i l e s , e t a l . ,

d e s c r i b e s a t i p p i n g p o i n t as having s i g n i f i c a n t impact on t h e l o s s
o f white s t u d e n t s .

He say s t h a t once a school rea c h e s 30 p e r c e n t o r

more m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t t h a t i t t i p s m i n o r i t y , t h a t i t s m i n o r i t y
^Reynolds F a r l e y , " I s Coleman Right?" S o c ia l P o l i c y , Vol. 6
No. 4 ( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 15.
r

Gary O r f i e l d , "White F l i g h t Res ea rch , I t s Importance,
P e r p l e x i t i e s , and P o s s i b l e P o lic y I m p l i c a t i o n s , " Symposium on School
D e s e g r e g a ti o n , ed. Gary O r f i e l d (August 1975), pp. 44-68.

4
e n r o l l m e n t e x h i b i t s r a p i d growth w h ile w h ite e n r o l l m e n t d e c l i n e s
a t a correspondingly rapid r a t e . ^
Char les C l o t f e l t e r acknowledges t h a t a t i p p i n g p o i n t does
e x i s t , perhaps around th e 50 p e r c e n t l e v e l , b u t t h a t so many o t h e r
f a c t o r s e n t e r i n t o th e e q u a t i o n t h a t i d e n t i f y i n g a s p e c i f i c p o i n t i s
d ifficult.

He does say t h a t s c h o o ls under 25 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y a r e

no t l i k e l y t o be a f f e c t e d w h ile s c h o o ls r e a c h i n g 80 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y
g
a r e l i k e l y t o be abandoned by w h i t e s .
These and o t h e r r e l a t e d s t u d i e s a r e d e a l t w i th in g r e a t e r
d e t a i l in Chapter I I .
Background
The Lansing School D i s t r i c t i s c e n t e r e d in t h e c i t y of
Lansing, Michigan, s e r v i n g t h e c i t y and p o r t i o n s o f s e v e r a l s u r ­
rounding townships.

The s c h o o ls o f t h e d i s t r i c t a r e o r g a n iz e d as

elem entary (K-6), j u n i o r high ( 7 - 9 ) , and s e n i o r high (10-1 2 ) .

The

Lansing School D i s t r i c t a l s o o p e r a t e s an e x t e n s i v e Co ntinu in g Educa­
t i o n program.

Lansing Community College o r i g i n a t e d as a p a r t of th e

Lansing School D i s t r i c t b u t has s e v e re d t h a t t i e and now o p e r a t e s as
a separate e n tity .
^Michael W. G i l e s , E v e r e t t F. C a t a l d o , Douglas S. G r a t l i n ,
"D es egre gatio n and t h e P r i v a t e School A l t e r n a t i v e , " Symposium on
School D e s e g r e g a ti o n , ed. Gary O r f i e l d (August 1975), pp. 21-31.
o
Ch ar le s T. C l o t f e l t e r , "School D e s e g r e g a ti o n , ' T i p p i n g , '
and P r i v a t e School E n r o ll m e n t," The J o u rn a l o f Human Resources
Vol. XI, No. 1 (Winter 1976), U n i v e r s i t y o f Wisconsin P r e s s , p. 45.

5
The Lansing School D i s t r i c t reached i t s peak K-12 e n r o l l m e n t
in 1971 with 33,080 s t u d e n t s .

Of t h i s number 18,702 were el em entary.

The e lem entary e n r o l lm e n t o f th e d i s t r i c t had a c t u a l l y reached i t s
peak in 1969 a t 19,004 s t u d e n t s and had s t a r t e d a s te a d y d e c l i n e
by 1971 .9
The d i s t r i c t began t o keep s t a t i s t i c s on s t u d e n t s by rac e
in 1967.

In t h a t y e a r t h e t o t a l e n r o l l m e n t o f t h e elem entary s ch oo ls

was 18,644 o f which 15,766 o r 85 p e r c e n t were white and 2,878 o r
15 p e r c e n t were non-w hite.

By 1971 th e elem entary e n r o l l m e n t of

18,702 was composed o f 14,516 o r 78 p e r c e n t white and 4,186 o r 22
percent non-white.^9
In 1967 th e Lansing Board of Education had redrawn t h e j u n i o r
and s e n i o r high boundary l i n e s so t h a t each j u n i o r and s e n i o r high
school approximated t h e m in o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t o f t h e o v e r - a l l d i s t r i c t .
At t h e e lem entary l e v e l , however, over 85 p e r c e n t o f t h e non-white
s t u d e n t s a t t e n d e d s c h o o ls which c o n ta in e d a m a j o r i t y o f non-white
students.

By 1971 d e s p i t e th e c l o s i n g o f two m a j o r i t y non-white

e n r o l lm e n t s c h o o ls and th e assignment of t h e i r s t u d e n t s t o m a j o r i t y
wh ite e n r o l lm e n t s c h o o ls t h e s i t u a t i o n had n o t g r e a t l y changed.

In

a d d i t i o n t h e r e was a growing d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n among non-white p a r e n t s
t h a t t h e i r c h i l d r e n were b e a r in g t h e b r u n t o f e f f o r t s t o d e s e g r e g a t e
t h e Lansing e lem entary s c h o o ls through a p a t t e r n o f one way busin g.
Q

Lansing School D i s t r i c t Child Accounting r e c o r d s .
^ L a n s i n g School D i s t r i c t Ethnic Count Records, September
1967 and September 1971.

6
In t h e f a l l o f 1971 t h e Board o f Education formed a c i t i z e n s
committee t o study t h e problem and t o make recommendations t o deseg­
r e g a t e t h e Lansing ele men tary s c h o o l s .
r e p o r t in Apr il 1972.

The committee s u b m itted i t s

The r e p o r t i n c lu d e d f o u r a l t e r n a t e p la n s f o r

d e s e g r e g a t i n g t h e elem en tary s c h o o ls a l l o f which in v o lv e d t h e busing
o f p u p i l s away from t h e i r home school a r e a .
The Board o f Education he ld s i x p u b l i c h e a r i n g s on t h e
committee r e p o r t du rin g t h e month of May 1972.

Following t h e h e a r in g

t h e Board developed a m od ified e lem entary d e s e g r e g a t i o n pl an c a l l i n g
f o r l e s s busing than any of t h e f o u r c i t i z e n committee p l a n s .

The

Board then hel d a p u b l i c h e a r in g on th e m od ifi ed p la n .
The mo dified plan c a l l e d f o r each ele m e n ta r y school t o have
an e n r o l l m e n t o f no l e s s than 10 p e r c e n t nor no more than 45 p e r c e n t
non-white s t u d e n t s .
alo ne.

Schools which met t h i s c r i t e r i a were to be l e f t

Schools which d id not meet t h e c r i t e r i a were t o be grouped

o r " c l u s t e r e d " in c l u s t e r s o f from two t o f i v e s c h o o l s .

Each of

th e c l u s t e r scho ols would r e t a i n i t s own neighborhood e n r o l lm e n t in
grades k i n d e r g a r t e n through second.

In a d d i t i o n each c l u s t e r school

would c o n t a i n grades t h r e e and f o u r o r g rades f i v e and s i x .

S tudents

in t h e s e f o u r grades would spend two of t h e y e a r s i n t h e i r home
school and th e o t h e r two y e a r s in a d i f f e r e n t school w i t h i n th e
cluster.

S tu d en ts in grades one and two were t o have j o i n t a c t i v i t i e s

with o t h e r c l u s t e r s chools t o p r e p a r e them f o r th e time th ey e n t e r e d
t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n .

The p lan s p e c i f i e d t h a t two c l u s t e r s of

f o u r s c h o o ls each would be i n i t i a t e d in t h e 1972-73 school y e a r and
a t h i r d c l u s t e r in v o lv in g an a d d i t i o n a l f i v e s chools would be

7
i n i t i a t e d i n t h e 1973-74 school y e a r .

Following t h i s would be a

p e r i o d o f s tu d y t o e v a l u a t e t h e c l u s t e r pla n and t o develop recom­
mendations f o r i t s m o d i f i c a t i o n a n d / o r expan sion.
During th e p e r i o d o f p u b l i c h e a r i n g s in May a group c a l l i n g
i t s e l f C i t i z e n s f o r Neighborhood Schools (CNS) was formed.

The CNS

d e c l a r e d t h a t i t opposed any a t t e m p t t o bus s t u d e n t s away from t h e i r
neighborhood school and t h a t any Board members who voted f o r such a
pla n would be r e c a l l e d .
In J une, 1972 t h e Board adopted th e m odifi ed e lem entary
d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n by a f i v e t o f o u r v o t e .

The CNS f i l e d r e c a l l

p e t i t i o n s a g a i n s t t h e f i v e Board members who voted f o r t h e p l a n .
A r e c a l l e l e c t i o n was sc h e d u le d t o be a p a r t o f t h e r e g u l a r November
7, 1972 e l e c t i o n .

E f f o r t s by CNS t o have th e Board e n j o i n e d by c o u r t

o r d e r t o p r e v e n t im plem en tation o f t h e ele m e n ta r y d e s e g r e g a t i o n plan
in September 1972 were not s u c c e s s f u l .
In September th e Lansing s c h o o ls opened and implemented the
elem en ta ry c l u s t e r p la n w i t h o u t i n c i d e n t .
In November t h e e l e c t o r a t e r e c a l l e d th e f i v e Board members
who had voted f o r th e c l u s t e r p l a n , l e a v i n g t h e Board w i t h o u t a
m a j o r i t y o f i t s members and unab le to o p e r a t e .

Governor Mi H i ken

a p p o in te d f i v e i n t e r i m Board members t o allo w t h e d i s t r i c t t o o p e r a t e
u n t i l a new Board e l e c t i o n could be h e ld .

In J a n u a ry 1973 f i v e

c a n d i d a t e s endor sed by CNS were e l e c t e d t o th e Board o f Education.
The new Board voted s i x t o t h r e e in February t o d i s c o n t i n u e
th e c l u s t e r plan e f f e c t i v e September 1973.

The NAACP so ug ht an

i n j u n c t i o n in f e d e r a l d i s t r i c t c o u r t t o p r e v e n t t h e Board from

8
d i s c o n t i n u i n g t h e c l u s t e r p la n .

Judge Noel Fox den ied th e NAACP

r e q u e s t and asked both s i d e s t o reach an out o f c o u r t s e t t l e m e n t .
In J u l y 1973 Judge Fox he ld a he a r in g on th e NAACP motion when th e
two s i d e s f a i l e d t o r ea ch agreement.
In August 1973 Judge Fox i s s u e d a p r e l i m i n a r y i n j u n c t i o n
a g a i n s t t h e Board o r d e r i n g r e i n s t a t e m e n t o f th e c l u s t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n
plan.

The Board ap pealed Judge Fox' r u l i n g t o th e Court of Appeals

but t h e a p p e l l a t e c o u r t denied t h e appeal and remanded th e cas e
back t o Judge Fox f o r a t r i a l on t h e m e r i t s .
The opening o f school in September 1973 was de layed two
weeks due to a t e a c h e r ' s s t r i k e but when school d i d open t h e t h r e e
c l u s t e r s were in p l a c e and t h e opening took p l a c e w it h o u t i n c i d e n t .
During t h e 1974-75 school y e a r th e c l u s t e r program was e v a l ­
u a te d .

S tu d e n t achievement l e v e l s i n math and r e a d in g i n d i c a t e d no

l o s s in academic achievement in t h e s e f i e l d s f o r wh ite o r non-white
p u p i l s and both groups a c t u a l l y showed some g a in s i n t h e upper
elem en ta r y g r a d e s .

A p u b l i c o p inion survey commissioned by t h e

Board

o f Education showed t h a t w h ile t h e community d id not f a v o r busing i t
had been a c c e p te d and p a r e n t s , s t u d e n t s , and t e a c h e r s a l l had p o s i ­
t i v e f e e l i n g s about what was happening in s c h o o ls .
In September 1975 Judge Fox conducted a p r e - t r i a l h e a r i n g
on t h e Lansing d e s e g r e g a t i o n cas e and asked f o r a t o t a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n
plan by October 14, 1975.

The Board o f Education developed s e v e r a l

p l a n s a l l o f which were u n s a t i s f a c t o r y t o t h e c o u r t .
In October 1975 Judge Fox or dere d a t r i a l on th e m e r i t s
the case.

of

In December 1975 Judge Fox r u l e d t h a t th e Lansing School

9
D i s t r i c t and i t s Board o f Education had been g u i l t y o f a c t s o f
s e g r e g a t i o n in v i o l a t i o n o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n and laws o f t h e United
S t a t e s and o f th e C o n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e S t a t e o f Michigan.

He order ed

th e Board to submit t o him by March 1, 1976, a comprehensive d e s e g r e ­
g a t i o n pla n.
The Board was unable t o a g r e e on a p lan so i n May 1976 Judge
Fox o r d e re d t h e im plem en tation of a d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n s u b m it te d
i n s t e a d by t h e NAACP.

The pl an c a l l e d f o r t h e a d d i t i o n o f t h r e e new

c l u s t e r s c o n t a i n i n g a t o t a l o f ni ne s c h o o ls .

The o r i g i n a l t h r e e

c l u s t e r s were t o c o n t i n u e but t h e grade s t r u c t u r e was a d j u s t e d .
Under t h e new pl an a l l k i n d e r g a r t e n s t u d e n t s would remain in t h e i r
home s c h o o ls .

One school in each c l u s t e r would house a l l f i f t h and

s i x t h grade s t u d e n t s of t h e c l u s t e r .

The remaining s c h o o ls in the

c l u s t e r would d i v i d e t h e s t u d e n t s in grad es one th ro ugh f o u r between
them.
The c o u r t o r d e r e d plan was t o be implemented in September
1976.

Schools opened i n September w i t h o u t i n c i d e n t .

The Board

appe aled t h e o r d e r o f Judge Fox t o t h e Court o f Appeals where t h e i r
appeal was de nied and on to t h e United S t a t e s Supreme C o urt, which
r e f u s e d t o he a r t h e a p p e a l . ^
The c l u s t e r p l a n o r d e r e d by Judge Fox i s s t i l l o p e r a t i n g in
th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t b u t in September 1979 f o u r e lem entary
s c h o o l s , i n c l u d i n g t h r e e c l u s t e r s c h o o l s , were c l o s e d due t o
declining enrollm ent.

The c o n t r o v e r s y s u rr o u n d in g t h i s a c t i o n added

^ " E l e m e n t a r y School D es e g re g a ti o n i n Lansing, A B r i e f
Summary," compiled by t h e In fo r m a t io n S e r v ic e s O f f i c e , Lansing
School D i s t r i c t .

10

a v a r i a b l e t o e n r o l l m e n t change which would make th e c o n t i n u a t i o n
of t h i s s tu d y beyond t h e 1973-79 school y e a r i m p r a c t i c a l .
Purpose o f t h e Study
The purp ose o f t h i s s tu d y i s t o i n v e s t i g a t e :
1.

I f t h e r a t e o f w h i te l o s s i n c r e a s e d o r d e c r e a s e d s i g n i f i ­

c a n t l y d u r in g t h e pla n n in g f o r a n d / o r implemen tation o f t h e Lansing
School D i s t r i c t d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n .

Does th e p a t t e r n o f white

e n r o l l m e n t change vary from t h e p a t t e r n o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t
change over t h e same p e r io d ?
2.

I f t h e r e i s a r e l a t i o n s h i p between white l o s s from a

school i n t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t and membership in a c l u s t e r .
Is t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between membership in a c l u s t e r and e n r o l l m e n t
change d i f f e r e n t f o r w h ite s and no n- whites?
3.

I f t h e t i p p i n g p o i n t has been a f u n c t i o n i n g co n cept in

t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t ' s s t u d e n t e n r o l l m e n t p a t t e r n s d u r in g t h e
p r o c e s s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r s ubsequ ent t o i t s im plem en tation.
Importance o f t h e Study
I t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t d a t a co ncerning w h ite f l i g h t and
d e s e g r e g a t i o n i n t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t be added t o t h e l i t e r ­
a t u r e in t h e f i e l d , whether th o s e d a t a a r e in c o n f l i c t with o r sup­
p o r t i v e o f d a t a d e r i v e d from o t h e r d i s t r i c t s d u r in g a p e r i o d o f
desegregation.
I t i s o f s p e c i a l im po rtance t o t h i s s tu d y t o look s p e c i f i c a l l y
a t th o s e s c h o o ls i n c l u d e d i n t h e c l u s t e r s as compared t o s c h o o ls n o t

11

so i n c lu d e d as t h e c l u s t e r s c o n s t i t u t e t h e major t h r u s t o f L a n s i n g 's
d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n .
There a r e t h r e e s p e c i f i c a r e a s t o be a d d r ess ed in c o l l e c t i n g
these data:
1.

The Lansing School D i s t r i c t has e x p e r i e n c e d an i n c r e a s e

in t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f non-white s t u d e n t s and a d e c l i n e in t h e p e r c e n t ­
age o f white s t u d e n t s in i t s e n r o l lm e n t s i n c e implementing a u s a b le
system f o r t h e c o l l e c t i o n of r a c i a l s t a t i s t i c s i n 1967.

This has

given t h e im pre s sio n t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s in th e d i s t r i c t d id
t r i g g e r a s i g n i f i c a n t l o s s in th e p e r c e n t o f white s t u d e n t s .
im p o r t a n t t o de te rm ine i f t h i s i s t r u e .

I t is

I t i s a l s o im p o r t a n t t o

de term in e i f t h e e f f e c t s were t h e same o r d i f f e r e n t f o r non-white
s t u d e n t e n r o l l m e n t as f o r white e n r o l l m e n t .
2.

The Lansing School D i s t r i c t grouped t h o s e s chools

involved in t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t i n t o s e v e r a l c l u s t e r s .

I t is

i m p o r t a n t t o see i f s ch oo ls grouped i n t o a c l u s t e r f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n
purp oses e x p e r i e n c e a g r e a t e r p e r c e n t a g e o f white l o s s th an s ch oo ls
n o t in v o lv e d in a c l u s t e r .

F u r t h e r i t i s i m p o rt a n t t o see i f th e

e f f e c t i s th e same o r d i f f e r e n t on non-white e n r o l l m e n t .
3.

I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o det er m ine i f i n d i v i d u a l schools in a

school d i s t r i c t such as Lansing, with an o v e r a l l non-white e n r o l lm e n t
under 30 p e r c e n t a t t h e time of d e s e g r e g a t i o n , e x p e r i e n c e t i p p i n g
when th e y pa ss 30 p e r c e n t in non-white e n r o l lm e n t .

12

The Scope and D e l i m i t a t i o n o f t h e Study
The stu dy i s d e l i m i t e d

as fo ll o w s :

1.

I t w i l l be l i m i t e d t o a s tu d y o f t h e elem en tary s chools
(K-6) o f t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .

2.

I t w i l l be l i m i t e d t o s tu d y i n g t h e r a t e and d i r e c t i o n
o f change i n both t h e no n-w hite and w h ite e n r o l lm e n t
b e f o r e , d u r i n g , and f o llo w in g major d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

3.

I t w i l l be l i m i t e d t o th e p e r i o d beg inning w ith th e
1967-68 school y e a r , when r a c i a l e n r o l lm e n t d a t a a r e
f i r s t a v a i l a b l e in u s a b le form, th ro ugh t h e 1978-79
school y e a r .
L i m i t a t i o n s o f t h e Study

The s tu d y i s l i m i t e d by t h e f o ll o w i n g f a c t o r s :
1.

The i n a b i l i t y to c o n t r o l c o m pletely f o r the v a r i a b l e
of b i r t h r a t e as i t impacts e n r o l lm e n t changes.

2.

The l a c k o f census d a t a , e s p e c i a l l y b i r t h s t a t i s t i c s ,
f o r t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t as a s e p a r a t e u n i t .

3.

The lack o f a c l e a r , u n i v e r s a l l y a c c e p t e d , d e f i n i t i o n
o f e t h n i c / r a c i a l groups.
Defini t i o n s

D es e g re g a ti o n :

For t h e purpose o f t h i s stu d y d e s e g r e g a t i o n

i s d e f in e d as t h e t r a n s f e r o f s t u d e n t s i n such a way t h a t no school
has l e s s than 10 p e r c e n t nor more than 45 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t .
Non-White ( M i n o r i t y ) :

The Child Accounting Department o f

t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t c l a s s i f i e s s t u d e n t s as American I n d i a n ,
Black, Asian, L a ti n o , White, and Other.

All s t u d e n t s c l a s s i f i e d in

any c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o t h e r th a n White a r e c o n s id e r e d Non-White f o r
purposes of t h i s s tu d y .
interchangeably.

Non-White and M in orit y w i l l be used

13

Cluster:

The Lansing d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n was based on group­

ing s c h o o ls t o g e t h e r i n t o c l u s t e r s .

Elementary s c h o o ls which f e l l

o u t s i d e o f t h e 10 p e r c e n t - 45 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t g u i d e l i n e s
were grouped t o g e t h e r in groups o f from two to f i v e s c h o o ls .

Each

c l u s t e r i s c o n s i d e r e d t o be one school and s t u d e n t s a r e a s s i g n e d t o
a given b u i l d i n g w i t h i n th e c l u s t e r based on t h e i r grade l e v e l .
G e n e r a l ly one b u i l d i n g in t h e c l u s t e r houses a l l f i f t h and s i x t h
grade s t u d e n t s and t h e o t h e r b u i l d i n g s house s t u d e n t s i n grad es one
through f o u r .

All k i n d e r g a r t e n s t u d e n t s remain in t h e i r home s c h o o l.

Tipping:

According t o th e l i t e r a t u r e when a school re aches

a given p e r c e n t a g e o f non- white e n r o l l m e n t t h a t school w i l l t i p
n o n - w h ite , t h a t i s t h e e n r o l l m e n t w i l l r a p i d l y approach 100 p e r c e n t
non -w hite .

There i s no t r u e consensus on what p e r c e n t a g e of non­

w h ite e n r o l lm e n t cau ses a b u i l d i n g t o t i p , b u t t h e most o f t e n used
f i g u r e i s 30 p e r c e n t .

For purp oses o f t h i s s tu d y 30 p e r c e n t i s used

as t h e s u s p e c t e d t i p p i n g p o i n t .
Control Years:

The c o n t r o l y e a r s w i l l be t h e school y e a r s

b e g in nin g w i th t h e 1967-68 school y e a r through t h e 1971-72 school
year.
racial

The 1967-68 school y e a r was t h e f i r s t y e a r f o r which u s a b le
12

e n r o l l m e n t s t a t i s t i c s a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r th e Lansing s c h o o ls .

The 1971-72 school y e a r i s t h e l a s t y e a r p r i o r t o implemen tation o f
t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n o f t h e Lansing e lem enta ry s c h o o ls .
D es eg reg a tio n Years:

The d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s w i l l be the

school y e a r s f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f t h e Lansing elem entary
12

White and Non-White c a t e g o r i e s as d e f i n e d on page 12 o f
th is report.

14
s c h o o ls beg in ning with th e 1972-73 school y e a r through th e 1978-79
school y e a r .
Hypotheses
There w i l l be t h r e e major hypotheses t e s t e d in t h i s s tu d y .
These hypothese s a r e r e s t a t e d in t e s t a b l e form in Chapter I I I .
1.

There w i l l be s i g n i f i c a n t change shown in t h e r a t e o f
e n r o l l m e n t change in Lansing e l em enta ry schools between
t h e c o n t r o l y e a r s and t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s .

2.

Membership in a c l u s t e r w i l l be shown t o have a s i g n i f i ­
c a n t e f f e c t on e n r o l lm e n t change in Lansing elem entary
s c h o o ls .

3.

Tipping w i l l be shown to be a f a c t o r in e n r o l lm e n t
change in Lansing e lem en ta r y s chools s i n c e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
Overview o f t h e D i s s e r t a t i o n

Chapter I I w i l l c o n t a i n a review o f l i t e r a t u r e in two a r e a s :
th e l e g a l background f o r c o u r t order ed d e s e g r e g a t i o n and r e l a t e d
s t u d i e s on t h e e f f e c t of d e s e g r e g a t i o n on white l o s s from c e n t r a l
c i t y school d i s t r i c t s .
Chapter I I I c o n t a i n s a d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e methods, sample
and p r o ced u res used in th e s tu d y .
C ha pter IV c o n t a i n s an a n a l y s i s o f t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e d a ta
g e n e r a te d from t e s t i n g th e hy pothes es.
Chap ter V c o n t a i n s th e summary, d i s c u s s i o n and c o n c l u s io n s
drawn from t h e s tu d y .

CHAPTER I I
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The review o f l i t e r a t u r e r e l e v a n t t o t h i s s tu d y p r o v id e s an
overview in two a r e a s .

The f i r s t s e c t i o n t r a c e s th e l e g a l background

f o r c o u r t o r d e re d d e s e g r e g a t i o n in a c h r o n o l o g ic a l o r d e r commenting
on t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s o f some o f t h e major c o u r t d e c i s i o n s .

The

second s e c t i o n reviews some s i g n i f i c a n t s t u d i e s which have been done
s eeking t o measure t h e e f f e c t of d e s e g r e g a t i o n on whit e l o s s from
c e n t r a l c i t y school d i s t r i c t s .

While most o f th e e x i s t i n g s t u d i e s

deal only w i th b l a c k - w h i t e d e s e g r e g a t i o n , c a r e has been tak en here
t o i n c lu d e and i d e n t i f y some s t u d i e s which deal with n o n - w h i te - w h ite d e s e g r e g a t i o n as t h i s stu d y w i l l do.
Legal Background
The i s s u e o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n f i r s t gaine d n a t i o n a l
prominence in 1954 w i th t h e Supreme C o u r t ' s r u l i n g in Brown v. Topeka,
347 U.S. 483 (1954) l a t e r known as Brown I , o v e r t u r n i n g t h e s e p a r a t e
but equal d o c t r i n e e s t a b l i s h e d by th e c o u r t in P l e s s y v. Ferguson,
163 U.S. 537, 559 ( 1 8 9 6 ) J

In Brown I t h e c o u r t r u l e d t h a t dual

\ e a g u e o f Women V o t e r s , School D es eg reg a ti o n ( D e t r o i t :
League of Women Voters in t h e D e t r o i t M e t r o p o l i t a n Area, December
1972), p. 1.

15

16
school systems in t h e South based on r a c e were u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l .
I t remained f o r a second r u l i n g by t h e c o u r t , however, t o r e q u i r e
t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f dual systems.

In Brown v. Board o f Education

I I , 349 U.S. 294 ( 1955), t h e c o u r t o r d e r e d a l l s t a t e s m a i n t a i n i n g
?
dual systems to d e s e g r e g a t e "with a l l d e l i b e r a t e s p e e d ."
Following t h e Brown d e c i s i o n s t h e c o u r t i s s u e d a number of
d e c i s i o n s both c l a r i f y i n g and expanding t h e impact on school d e s e g r e ­
gation.

In Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958) th e c o u r t r u l e d t h a t

t h e r i g h t s o f c h i l d r e n t o a t t e n d i n t e g r a t e d s chools ca nn ot be
" f r u s t r a t e d or postponed because of v i o l e n c e , d i s r u p t i o n or o b j e c t i o n
3
to in te g ra tio n ."
In Green v. County School Board o f Kent County
V i r g i n i a , 391 U.S. 430 ( 1 9 6 8 ), th e c o u r t r u l e d t h a t school d i s t r i c t s
with dual systems have an a f f i r m a t i v e o b l i g a t i o n t o p r o v id e a u n i t a r y
system "now."^

The so c a l l e d busing c a s e , Swann v. C h a r i o t t e -

Mecklenburg, 402 U.S. 1 ( 1971), e s t a b l i s h e d a number o f rem ed ies,
i n c l u d i n g b u s in g , which could be o r d e re d by lower c o u r t s t o e l i m i n a t e
5
s e g r e g a t i o n in s c h o o l s .
Moving i n t o t h e North f o r t h e f i r s t time
in Keyes v. School D i s t r i c t No. 1, 413 U.S. 189 (1973) t h e c o u r t
s t a t e d t h a t any p r e s e n t o r p a s t p r a c t i c e o f a school d i s t r i c t which
^ I b i d . , p. 2.
3
"Cooper v. Aaron," C u r r e n t Education Law,Vol. 4, No. 3
(March 1974): 32.
4
"Green v. County School Board o f Kent County," C u rrent
Educ ation Law,Vol. 4, No. 4 (April 1974): 37.
5
Robert J . Simpson, " D es egre gation Since Swann and Keyes,"
C u r r e n t Trends in School Law (Topeka: The National O r g a n iz a tio n on
Legal Problems o f E d u c a t io n , 1973), pp. 179-130.

17

r e s u l t s in t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f r a c i a l l y i d e n t i f i a b l e s c h o o ls even
i n t h e absence o f s t a t u t e , has t h e e f f e c t o f c r e a t i n g a dual system
which must be rem edied.^
In each o f th e ca s es c i t e d h e r e , plus o t h e r s s i m i l a r in
n a t u r e , t h e c o u r t has d e a l t with s i n g l e d i s t r i c t s .

The i s s u e of

m u l t i - d i s t r i c t d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n s a r o s e as c e n t r a l c i t y school d i s ­
t r i c t s developed an i n c r e a s i n g l y h i g h e r p e r c e n t a g e o f m i n o r i t y e n r o l l ­
ments wh ile suburban school d i s t r i c t s s u rr o u n d i n g them remained p r i ­
m a r il y w h ite .

Two major ca s es have ad d r e ss e d t h i s i s s u e w it h o u t

fully clarifying i t .

In Bradley v. School Board, 412 U.S. 92 (1974)

a d iv i d e d Supreme Court l e t s ta n d an Appeals Court d e c i s i o n t h a t no
" j o i n t i n t e r a c t i o n " was found among th e involved d i s t r i c t s , Richmond,
C h e s t e r f i e l d , and Henr ico, V i r g i n i a .

There was no u n c o n s i t u t i o n a l
7
a c t which demanded a m u l t i - d i s t r i c t s o l u t i o n .
In M il l i k e n v.
B r adle y, 418 U.S. 717 (1974), t h e c o u r t ag ai n r u l e d out a m u l t i ­
d i s t r i c t remedy when i t found t h a t s u f f i c i e n t grounds had not been
shown t o prove d i s c r i m i n a t i o n o r s e g r e g a t i v e i n t e n t on th e p a r t of
t h e S t a t e o f Michigan or 53 d i s t r i c t s su rr ounding D e t r o i t .

The c o u r t

d i d n o t , however, r u l e o u t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a m u l t i - d i s t r i c t plan
g

where such i n t e n t could be shown.
r

Lewis C. Bose, " A f t e r Keyes and Bradley: The P r a c t i c a l i t i e s , "
C u r r e n t Trends in School Law (Topeka: The Na tion al O r g a n i z a t i o n on
Legal Problems o f Ed ucat io n, 1973), p. 193.
^Simpson, op. c i t . , p. 176.
O

U.S. Commission on C i v i l R i g h t s , Desegre ga tion o f t h e
Nations P u b l i c Schools: A S t a t u s Report (Washington: U.S.
Government P r i n t i n g O f f i c e , 1979), pp. 2-6.

18

These c a s e s , w h ile c e r t a i n l y not a l l i n c l u s i v e , do p r e s e n t
a background f o r a study o f white f l i g h t from urban school d i s t r i c t s .
I t i s n o t t h i s a u t h o r ' s i n t e n t t o s t a t e o r imply any r e l a t i o n s h i p
between white f l i g h t and t h e d e c i s i o n s of t h e United S t a t e s Supreme
Court.

I t would seem u s e f u l , however, t o have a more complete

u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e c o u r t ca s es c i t e d above as a b a s i s f o r a s s e s s i n g
t h e e f f e c t s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n on w h it e and m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t s in
th e s c h o o ls .
The d o c t r i n e o f s e p a r a t e b u t equal e s t a b l i s h e d by P le ss y in
1896 a c t u a l l y concerned a r a i l r o a d accommodations law from L o u i s i a n a ,
b u t i t was a p p l i e d t o s ch oo ls and led t o th e development o f th e d u a l ,
black and w h i t e , s c h o o ls systems of th e South.

9

. .
A d i s s e n t i n g opi n io n

by J u s t i c e Harlan in th e P l e s s y c as e was a h a l f - c e n t u r y ahead of i t s
time.

He s a i d , "Our C o n s t i t u t i o n i s c o l o r - b l i n d , n e i t h e r knows nor

t o l e r a t e s c l a s s e s among c i t i z e n s .

In r e s p e c t t o c i v i l r i g h t s , a l l

c i t i z e n s a r e equal b e f o r e t h e l a w . " ^
I t was n o t u n t i l 1954 and Brown I t h a t J u s t i c e H a r l a n ' s
views were r e f l e c t e d by th e c o u r t in a school d e s e g r e g a t i o n case .
Brown I was a c t u a l l y a combination o f f o u r c a s e s coming from Kansas,
South C a r o l i n a , V i r g i n i a , and Delaware.

Each o f t h e f o u r cases

in volved a blac k c h i l d r e q u e s t i o n t o a t t e n d a d e s e g r e g a t e d s c h o o l . ^
Q

Robert J . Simpson, "Brown I: The H i s t o r i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e , "
NOLPE School Law J o u r n a l , V o l . 8, No. 2 (1979): 113.

^"B row n v. Board o f Education of Topeka (Brown I ) , " C u r r e n t
Education Law,Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 1974): 28.

19

In t h e Kansas ca s e Linda Brown was denied th e r i g h t t o a t t e n d a white
ele m e n ta r y school f i v e blocks from her home and was r e q u i r e d to
a t t e n d a b lack school more than f o u r times f u r t h e r away.

12

Kansas

law p e r m i t t e d b u t d i d not r e q u i r e c i t i e s over 15,000 p o p u l a t i o n to
m a in ta in s e p a r a t e school f a c i l i t i e s f o r black and white c h i l d r e n .

13

The c o u r t he ld t h a t s e p a r a t e was n o t equal th e r e b y i n i t i a t i n g th e
e r a o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

14

While in Brown I t h e c o u r t r u le d t h a t dual school systems
were u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l , n o th in g much happened.

A y e a r l a t e r the

c o u r t a g ain e n t e r e d t h e school d e s e g r e g a t i o n aren a with Brown I I .
In Brown I I t h e c o u r t r e q u i r e d a l l s t a t e s m a i n t a i n i n g dual systems
to d e s e g r e g a t e "with a l l d e l i b e r a t e s p e e d ."

15

To accomplish t h i s

end, t h e Supreme Court gave lower c o u r t s th e a u t h o r i t y t o o r d e r
remedies where dual systems e x i s t e d .

The lower c o u r t s were t o take

l o c a l i n t e r e s t s i n t o ac count when o r d e r i n g r em edies, but were not
t o a llo w th o s e i n t e r e s t s t o p r e v e n t remedies.

1

I t proved t o be one

t h i n g t o o r d e r a remedy and sometimes a n o t h e r t o cause i t t o happen.
In L i t t l e Rock, Ar kansas, r e s i s t a n c e t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s became
so v i o l e n t t h a t th e Governor c a l l e d o u t th e National Guard and
12

H.C. Hudgins, J r . , "Brown and P u b l ic School S e g r e g a tio n :
25 Years Ago," NOLPE School Law J o u r n a l , Vol. 8, Mo. 2 (1979): 117.
13

League o f Women V o t e r s , op. c i t . , pp. 1-2.

14I b i d .
15I b i d . , p. 2.
^ "B row n v. Board o f Education o f Topeka, Kansas (Brown I I ) , "
C u r r e n t Educ ation Law,Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 1974): 31-32.

20

d e c l a r e d C entral High School o f f l i m i t s f o r black s t u d e n t s . ^

As

noted e a r l i e r th e c o u r t r u l e d in Cooper t h a t t h e r i g h t s o f c h i l d r e n
t o a t t e n d i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls ca nn ot be " f r u s t r a t e d o r postponed
because o f v i o l e n c e , d i s r u p t i o n o r o b j e c t i o n t o i n t e g r a t i o n . "

The

c o u r t o r d e re d f e d e r a l i n t e r v e n t i o n in t h e L i t t l e Rock s i t u a t i o n and
r u l e d t h a t f e d e r a l f o r c e s could be used i f n e c e s s a r y t o e n f o r c e
desegregation orders of the courts.

18

In Green th e c o u r t took a n o t h e r look a t t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
o f a school d i s t r i c t which had o p e r a t e d a l e g a l l y mandated dual
system t o a c t a f f i r m a t i v e l y t o d e s e g r e g a t e .

The Kent County V i r g i n i a

School D i s t r i c t had o p e r a t e d a dual system with one e lem entary and
one se co nd ary school each f o r blacks and w h it e s .

Following Brown I I

t h e Kent County Board o f Education adopted a freedom o f ch o i c e plan
a l l o w i n g any s t u d e n t t o a t t e n d t h e school of h i s / h e r c h o i c e .

No

wh ite s t u d e n t s t r a n s f e r r e d t o th e black s c h o o ls and only 15 p e r c e n t
o f t h e black s t u d e n t s t r a n s f e r r e d to t h e white s c h o o ls .

19

The c o u r t

r u l e d t h a t school d i s t r i c t s with dual systems have an a f f i r m a t i v e
o b l i g a t i o n t o pr ovid e a u n i t a r y system "now."

Freedom o f ch o ice was

n o t p r o h i b i t e d by t h e c o u r t but th e e f f e c t i v e n e s s of such a plan
must be e v a l u a t e d .

In t h e cas e o f Kent County freedom o f ch o ice was

n o t enough and more a f f i r m a t i v e a c t i o n had t o be ta k e n .

20

17Ibi d .
18I b id .
19
pp.

Green v. County School Board o f Kent County," op. c i t . ,

35-36.
2 0 Ibid.

21
The c o u r t c o n t i n u e d t o look a t methods a v a i l a b l e t o school
d i s t r i c t s t o d e s e g r e g a t e , and i n t h e landmark Swann d e c i s i o n s p e l l e d
out a number o f remedies which could be ord ered by lower c o u r t s .
While Swann i s o f t e n r e f e r r e d t o as t h e bus ing c a s e , t h e c o u r t did
no t mandate bus ing f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

I t d i d , however, al low th e

o r d e r i n g o f busing where n e c e s s a r y " t o help c r e a t e a u n i t a r y system"
and where t h e d i s t a n c e s in volved were " r e a s o n a b l e . "

21

The g e r r y ­

mandering o f a t t e n d a n c e a r e a s , t h e placement of new s c h o o l s , and the
assign men t o f s t a f f in o r d e r t o b r in g ab out d e s e g r e g a t i o n were a l s o
remedies allowed by th e c o u r t in Swann.

The c o u r t d id n o t r e q u i r e

equal r a c i a l b alan ce in a l l s c h o o ls b u t did r e q u i r e t h a t r e a s o n a b l e
r a c i a l b a l a n c e be a c h i e v e d .

The burden was p la c e d on school o f f i c i a l s

t o prove t h a t r a c i a l imbalance i s n o t a f u n c t i o n of d e l i b e r a t e a c t s
of d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , p a s t o r p r e s e n t .

22

Swann, l i k e t h e c a s e s b e f o r e i t , d e a l t only with l e g a l l y
mandated dual systems o p e r a t e d in t h e South.

Unlike i t s p r e d e c e s s o r s ,

however, Swann h i n t e d a t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f i l l e g a l
dual systems which were a f u n c t i o n o f school board a c t i o n s and not
le g a l mandate.

In Swann, th e c o u r t a l e r t e d t h e North t o d e s e g r e g a ­

t i o n concer ns when i t s a i d t h a t while pr edominantly one r ace schools
do n o t o f them se lves i n d i c a t e s e g r e g a t i v e a c t i o n s by a school
21

Robert J . Simpson, " D es egre gati on Since Swann and Keyes,"
C u r r e n t Trends i n School Law (Topeka: The National O r g a n i z a t i o n on
Legal Problems of E d u c a t io n , 1973), pp. 179-180.
22

Bose,

op.

c it.,

p.

189.

22

d i s t r i c t , t h e i r pr esen ce b r in g s a presumption o f such a c t i o n s which
school o f f i c i a l s be a r t h e burden to d i s p r o v e .
The c o u r t came n o r th with Keyes.

23

In looking a t t h e Denver

s c h o o ls t h e c o u r t s a i d t h a t t h e day t o day a c t i o n s o f a board o f
e d u c a tio n can have t h e e f f e c t o f c r e a t i n g a dual system even in th e
absence o f s t a t u t e .

Where such a c t i o n s as t h e placement o f new

s c h o o l s , t h e drawing o f a t t e n d a n c e l i n e s , and th e as signm ent of
s t a f f r e s u l t s in r a c i a l l y i d e n t i f i a b l e s c h o o l s , then i t can be
assumed t h a t s e g r e g a t i o n i s th e r e s u l t of such a c t i o n and t h e Swann
remedies must be a p p l i e d .

24

The c o u r t f u r t h e r r u l e d in Keyes t h a t

where s e g r e g a t i v e i n t e n t i s found in one p a r t of a school d i s t r i c t ,
t h e r e i s a presumption of such i n t e n t in a l l o t h e r p a r t s , so th e
remedies o r d e r e d may apply t o t h e e n t i r e d i s t r i c t .

25

M e tr o p o l i t a n d e s e g r e g a t i o n plans do e x i s t as i l l u s t r a t e d by
the county d i s t r i c t s in F l o r i d a and J e f f e r s o n County, Kentucky.
These p la n s g e n e r a l l y in v o lv e a school d i s t r i c t c o - e x i s t i n g w i th a
single p o litic a l u n it.

E ffo rts to cross d i s t r i c t l in e s to formulate

a d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n have been a d i f f e r e n t s t o r y .

In B r a d le y , t h e

Supreme Court d i v i d e d f o u r - f o u r t o l e t s ta n d an a p p e a ls c o u r t
reversal of a d i s t r i c t c o u r t 's order fo r m etropolitan desegregation.
^ M a r t h a M. McCarthy and L. Dean Webb, " I n t r a - D i s t r i c t
D es eg reg a tio n Remedies," NOLPE School Law J o u r n a l , Vol. 8, No. 2
(1979): 130.
24

Bose, op. c i t . , p. 193.

^ M c C a r t h y , op. c i t . , p. 132.
*?fk

U.S.

Commission

on

C ivil

R ights,

op.

c it.,

p.

2.

23

The c o u r t o f ap p e a ls found no " j o i n t i n t e r a c t i o n " among t h e t h r e e
d i s t r i c t s i n v o l v e d , t h e r e f o r e , no u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a c t .

27

The

c o u r t went on t o say t h a t th e c o n s t i t u t i o n does n o t r e q u i r e t h e impo­
s i t i o n o f a f i x e d r a c i a l quota as c a l l e d f o r in t h e t h r e e d i s t r i c t
Richmond plan.

28

In M i l l i k e n , th e c o u r t , on a f i v e - f o u r v o t e , did n o t allow
m e t r o p o l i t a n r e l i e f f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n in th e D e t r o i t s c h o o ls .

The

c o u r t r u l e d t h a t s u f f i c i e n t grounds o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n o r s e g r e g a t i o n
i n t e n t on t h e p a r t of t h e s t a t e o r th e 53 suburban d i s t r i c t s was not
established.

29

M il l i k e n did not r u l e out i n t e r - d i s t r i c t r e l i e f ,

but r e q u i r e d th e showing o f s e g r e g a t i v e i n t e n t on t h e p a r t o f th e
s t a t e o r t h e suburban d i s t r i c t s in v o lv ed .

The c o u r t has had only

l i m i t e d oc c a s io n t o apply th e t e s t s e t in M i l l i k e n , so i t s r eal
e f f e c t is s t i l l a m atter of supposition.

30

An i n t e r e s t i n g o p p o r t u n i t y

t o apply M il l i k e n may be deve loping in th e U.S. D i s t r i c t C o urt,
Western D i s t r i c t o f Michigan, Southern D i v i s i o n , where Judge Fox has
o r d e r e d t h e Benton Harbor, Eau C l a i r e , and Coloma school d i s t r i c t s
to develop a m u l t i - d i s t r i c t d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n .
R elated S tu d i e s
The opening round in th e c o n t i n u i n g d e b a t e over t h e r e l a t i o n ­
s h ip between school d e s e g r e g a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y where c o u r t o r d e r e d ,
27

Simpson, op. c i t . , p. 176.

28

" I n t e r - D i s t r i c t Busing f o r I n t e g r a t i o n , " C u r r e n t Education
Law,Vol. 3, No. 8 (November 1973): 226.
29
U.S.

Commission

30Ib id .,

p.

7.

on

Civil

Rights,

op.

c it.,

p.

2.

24

and whit e f l i g h t came with a r e p o r t by James Coleman in 1975.

31

Coleman s t a t e d a concern t h a t :
At th e same time t h a t school d e s e g r e g a t i o n was o c c u r r i n g
in many school d i s t r i c t s o f th e c o u n t r y , an opposing
t r e n d was o c c u r r i n g in th e s e g r e g a t i o n o f w h ite and
Black c h i l d r e n among school d i s t r i c t s . 32
This t r e n d , he c o n te n d s , i s e f f e c t i v e l y r e s e g r e g a t i n g s c h o o ls as well
as having a d e l e t e r i o u s e f f e c t on t hose c i t i e s in which w h ite s a r e
l e a v i n g f o r th e s ubu rb s.

The q u e s t i o n t o which Coleman d i r e c t e d

h i s s t u d i e s , t h e r e f o r e , was "whether t h i s l o s s o f w h it e s from
c e n t r a l c i t y s c h o o ls i s a c c e l e r a t e d when s u b s t a n t i a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n
takes place.
Coleman's s tu d y , by h is d e f i n i t i o n , in c l u d e d t h e 21 l a r g e s t
school d i s t r i c t s in t h e n a t i o n and th e 46 n e x t l a r g e s t .

He measured

t h e change in t h e number of wh ite s t u d e n t s in t h e s e d i s t r i c t s between
1967 and 1973.

34

In a l a t e r study Coleman a t te m p te d t o a d j u s t f o r

o u tm i g r a t i o n of w h ites n o t r e l a t e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n by p r o j e c t i n g
what t h e change in th e number o f wh ite s t u d e n t s would be w i t h o u t
d e s e g r e g a t i o n based on e x p e r i e n c e b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n o c c u r r e d .
He then compared t h i s p r o j e c t i o n wit h t h e a c t u a l change in t h e number
o f wh ite s t u d e n t s when d e s e g r e g a t i o n o ccu r red .

35

31

David J. Armor, White F l i g h t Demographic T r a n s i t i o n , and
The F u tu re o f School Des egre ga ti on (Santa Monica: The Rand C o r p . ,
1978), p. 1.
32

James S. Coleman, " L i b e r t y and E q u a li t y i n School Desegre­
g a t i o n , " Social Pol i c y ,Vol. 6, No. 4 ( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 9.
331 b i d . , p. 10.
34
35

Armor, op. c i t . , pp. 3-4.
Coleman,

op.

c i t . ,

p.

12.

25

Coleman concluded from h i s s t u d i e s t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n does
a c c e l e r a t e t h e l o s s o f white s t u d e n t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y in th o s e d i s t r i c t s
with a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f blac k s t u d e n t s where suburbs w ith l a r g e l y
white p o p u l a t i o n s a r e a v a i l a b l e .

This c o n c l u s io n may be s o f t e n e d ,

however, by th e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t t h e a c c e l e r a t i o n o f w h ite l o s s may
be o f s h o r t d u r a t i o n .

The l o s s in th e y e a r s f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n

ten d t o be much s m a l l e r than dur in g t h e a c t u a l y e a r of d e s e g re g a t i o n . 36
Coleman ad voca tes t h r e e p o l i c y a l t e r n a t i v e s t o c o r r e c t t h e
harmful e f f e c t s o f white f l i g h t from c e n t r a l c i t i e s .

F i r s t he i s

concerned t h a t th e c o u r t s have tend ed t o d e f i n e a l l s e g r e g a t i o n as
de j u r e .

Coleman f e e l s t h a t s e g r e g a t i o n r e s u l t i n g from wholly

i n d i v i d u a l a c t i o n s , such as l i v i n g p a t t e r n s , i s c l e a r l y de f a c t o .
His f i r s t p o l i c y a l t e r n a t i v e , t h e r e f o r e ,

i s t o c o r r e c t t r u l y de j u r e

s e g r e g a t i o n only.

would n o t s t a b i l i z e

He concedes t h a t t h i s

c i t i e s b u t i t would end t h e a c c e l e r a t i o n
The second p o l i c y a l t e r n a t i v e i s

of

central

w h i te f l i g h t .

t o r e q u i r e th e end o f

s e g r e g a t i o n in m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a s by b us in g.

Coleman b e l i e v e s t h a t

th e n a t u r e o f a m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a l i m i t s t h e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r whites
t o c o n v e n i e n t l y move t o a n o n - a f f e c t e d a r e a .

He does i n d i c a t e t h a t

some may s t i l l e l e c t t o move o u t o f t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a o r t r a n s f e r
t h e i r c h i l d r e n t o p r i v a t e s c h o o ls .
The t h i r d p o l i c y a l t e r n a t i v e i s t o a l l o w any c h i l d t o a t t e n d
any school in t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a , in h i s / h e r school d i s t r i c t or

26

a n o t h e r , " t h a t d id n o t have a h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n o f h i s / h e r r a c e than
th e school t o which h e / s h e would be a s s i g n e d . "

The r e c e i v i n g school

could n o t r e f u s e a d m itt a n c e as long as th ey did n o t exceed 20 p e r c e n t
o f t h e i r e n r o l lm e n t from o u t o f d i s t r i c t s t u d e n t s .

37

Reynolds F a r le y i s one o f a number o f s o c i o l o g i s t s who have
conducted s t u d i e s to d eter m in e i f i n t e g r a t i o n has been a major cause
o f white f l i g h t as claimed by James Coleman.

In h i s s tu d y F a r le y

i n c lu d e d a l l c i t i e s with a p o p u l a t i o n of 100,000 or more in 1970.
From t h i s l i s t he d e l e t e d th o s e c i t i e s where b la c k s made up 3 p e r c e n t
or l e s s o f th e p u b l i c school e n r o l l m e n t .

This r e s u l t e d in a study

group o f 50 s o u th e r n and 75 n o r t h e r n c i t i e s .

38

F a r l e y ' s f i r s t s t e p was t o measure r a c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n in th e
s chools of each c i t y .

A f a c t o r was e s t a b l i s h e d whereby a c i t y with

t o t a l l y s e g r e g a t e d s c h o o ls was r a t e d 100 while a c i t y with t o t a l l y
d e s e g r e g a t e d s c h o o ls was r a t e d 0.

The l e v e l o f s e g r e g a t i o n was

determined in 1967 and 1972.
The p e r c e n t a g e o f change in wh ite e n r o l lm e n t f o r each c i t y
between 1967 and 1972 was c a l c u l a t e d .

I t was assumed t h a t i f d e s e g ­

r e g a t i o n produces white f l i g h t , th o s e d i s t r i c t s whose s e g r e g a t i o n
s c o r e s f e l l d r a s t i c a l l y should a l s o have l o s t many wh it e s t u d e n t s .
F a r le y t e s t e d t o see i f changes in white e n r o l lm e n t were r e l a t e d t o
changes in school s e g r e g a t i o n by drawing graphs f o r both t h e s o u th er n
and th e n o r t h e r n group o f s c h o o ls i l l u s t r a t i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p .
37I b i d . , p. 13.
33Reynolds F a r l e y , " I s Coleman Right?" Soc ial Pol i c y ,Vol. 6,
No. 4 ( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 15.

27

For both a r e a s th e p o i n t s on th e graphs were w ide ly s c a t t e r e d i n d i ­
c a t i n g no s tr o n g r e l a t i o n s h i p between white f l i g h t and changes in
school s e g r e g a t i o n .

39

Since Coleman had s t a t e d t h a t l a r g e c i t i e s were most l i k e l y
t o e x p e r ie n c e a c c e l e r a t e d whit e f l i g h t due t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n , F a r le y
looked s p e c i f i c a l l y a t t h e 20 l a r g e s t c i t i e s l o c a t e d both in t h e
North and t h e South.

Once agai n t h e p o i n t s on t h e graph were widely

s c a t t e r e d i n d i c a t i n g no s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between white f l i g h t
and school i n t e g r a t i o n in l a r g e c i t i e s .
F a r le y a l s o t e s t e d t h e h y p o th e s is t h a t d i s t r i c t s which had a
high p r o p o r t i o n o f black e n r o l l m e n t in 1967 would have a h i g h e r l o s s
o f w h ite s in a n t i c i p a t i o n o f i n t e g r a t i o n .

When lo okin g a t t h e s e

s c h o o ls t h e r e was a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t f e a r of
i n t e g r a t i o n in c i t i e s with high p r o p o r t i o n s o f blac k e n r o l l m e n t did
l e a d t o white f l i g h t .

I t was p o i n t e d o u t , however, t h a t t h e s e same

c i t i e s may be c h a r a c t e r i z e d by high crime r a t e s , u n f a v o r a b l e t a x
r a t e s , and o t h e r problems making them l e s s d e s i r a b l e t o th o s e a b l e
t o leav e.
F i n a l l y F a r l e y t e s t e d a model with two v a r i a b l e s , change in
school s e g r e g a t i o n , and p r o p o r t i o n o f b l a c k s in 1967.
We s p e c u l a t e d t h a t w h ite s would be p a r t i c u l a r l y prone to
leave p u b l i c s c h o o ls in t h o s e c i t i e s in which s c h o o ls
were i n t e g r a t e d and t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f Blacks was
high . . . .
In n e i t h e r South nor North d i d we f i n d ev idence
s u p p o r t i n g t h i s h y p o t h e s i s . That i s us in g two

39Ib id .,

p.

16.

28

v a r i a b l e s — change in school s e g r e g a t i o n and t h e p r o ­
p o r t i o n o f Black s t u d e n t s in 1967— proved no more
e f f e c t i v e in p r e d i c t i n g changes in w h ite e n r o l l m e n t
than d i d us in g j u s t t h e change in s e g r e g a t i o n . 40
F a r l e y concedes t h a t t h e number o f white s t u d e n t s i s d e c l i n i n g
in school d i s t r i c t s with a high p r o p o r t i o n o f bla ck s t u d e n t s and
t h a t t h e s e ten d t o be c e n t r a l c i t y d i s t r i c t s .

Many o f t h e s e d i s ­

t r i c t s , however, because of m i g r a t i o n p a t t e r n s , became l a r g e l y black
be f o re t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of busing f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
F a r l e y conc lude s t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s n o t a major cause o f
white f l i g h t .

He b e l i e v e s t h a t bu sing f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s one good

to o l f o r t h e s h o r t run.

In t h e long run he f e e l s t h a t changing

a t t i t u d e s can make p o s s i b l e r e s i d e n t i a l i n t e g r a t i o n and end th e
problem.
C h r i s t i n e R o s se ll i s concerned t h a t Coleman's r e s u l t s a r e
due t o a fundamental e r r o r in h i s measurement o f t h e phenomenon o f
wh ite f l i g h t . ^

She s t a t e s t h a t " j u s t lo oking a t th e white e n r o l l ­

ment b e f o r e and a f t e r school d e s e g r e g a t i o n . . . o b s c u re s t h e f a c t
t h a t w h i le t h e r e may be a l o s s o f w h ite s i n c u r r e d a f t e r school
d e s e g r e g a t i o n , i t i s u s u a l l y no g r e a t e r th an l o s s e s i n c u r r e d in
p r e v io u s y e a r s . "

42

She i s f u r t h e r concerned t h a t Coleman's d e f i n i ­

t i o n o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n , as any s i t u a t i o n where s i g n i f i c a n t
numbers o f b la ck and w h ite c h i l d r e n a r e in t h e same school a t th e
40 I b i d . , p. 17.
^ C h r i s t i n e H. R o s s e l l , "School D e s e g re g a tio n and White
F l i g h t , " P o l i t i c a l S cien ce Q u a r t e r l y , V o l . 90, No. 4 (Winter 1975-76):
676.

29

same t i m e , o bs cure s t h e e f f e c t s o f g h e t t o expa ns io n.

When a g h e t t o

begins expansion i n t o a p r e v i o u s l y white a r e a t h e r e s u l t a n t school
d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s " u n s t a b l e and tem pora ry ."

43

R o s se ll conducted a s tudy o f 86 n o r th e r n school d i s t r i c t s
t e s t i n g t h e co n c e p t t h a t school d e s e g r e g a t i o n c o n t r i b u t e s s i g n i f i ­
c a n t l y t o white f l i g h t .

The school d i s t r i c t s involved were, f o r th e

most p a r t , medium t o l a r g e c i t y school d i s t r i c t s .

She d e f i n e d

school d e s e g r e g a t i o n "as th e re ass ig nm ent o f blac k o r whit e s t u d e n t s
by a l o c a l governmental body o r c o u r t f o r t h e purposes o f school
in teg ratio n ."

44

Data was c o l l e c t e d on th e s c h o o ls in each of th e 86 d i s t r i c t s
showing t h e number o f black and white s t u d e n t s e n r o l l e d t h e f i r s t
y e a r o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and t h e pr e c e d in g y e a r .

The d i f f e r e n c e between

th e two y e a r s was a t t r i b u t e d t o a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a c t i o n i f i t con­
trib u te d to increased in te g ra tio n .

The p e r c e n t a g e o f blac k s t u d e n t s

r e a s s i g n e d and t h e p e r c e n ta g e o f white s t u d e n t s r e a s s i g n e d was com­
pu te d f o r each d i s t r i c t .

The two p e r c e n t a g e s were added t o g e t h e r

t o form an index o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n f o r th e d i s t r i c t .

The e f f e c t of

school d e s e g r e g a t i o n on wh ite l o s s was determined by p l o t t i n g th e
p e r c e n t a g e o f whit e l o s s f o r as many y e a r s b e f o r e and a f t e r major
d e s e g r e g a t i o n as t h e e n r o l l m e n t d a t a d i v i d e d by r a c e was a v a i l a b l e
• •
45
and t e s t i n g t h e amount o f change in r a t e f o r s i g n i f i c a n c e .
43I b i d . , p. 679.
4 4 Ibi d .
45I b i d . , pp. 678-680.

30

In looking a t th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s study R o s se ll grouped th e
86 d i s t r i c t s i n t o f i v e group s; c o u r t o r d e r e d , high d e s e g r e g a t i o n
(over 20 p e r c e n t ) , medium d e s e g r e g a t i o n (5-20 p e r c e n t ) , low d e s e g r e ­
g a t i o n (und er 5 p e r c e n t ) , and a c o n t r o l group with no d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
She f u r t h e r d i v i d e d th e d i s t r i c t s by c i t y s i z e m a i n t a i n i n g t h e f i v e
groupings w i t h i n each o f t h r e e s i z e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s .

The da ta

o b t a i n e d le d R os se ll t o conclude t h a t school d e s e g r e g a t i o n does not
s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c r e a s e w h ite l o s s even in l a r g e c i t i e s as Coleman
c la im s.

She does p o i n t out t h a t such i n c r e a s e in white l o s s as i s

ob serv ed, occu rs t h e y e a r b e f o r e implem entation o f major d e s e g r e g a ­
tion.

R o s se ll a d v i s e s school a d m i n i s t r a t o r s to t a k e t h i s f a c t o r

s e r i o u s l y and " c o n c e n t r a t e t h e i r e f f o r t s on e l i m i n a t i n g f e a r and
c o n t r o v e r s y b e fore t h e plan i s implemented."

46

In a l a t e r s tu d y o f school d e s e g r e g a t i o n and whit e f l i g h t in
Boston, R o s se ll compared t h e r a t e o f w h ite l o s s b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n
to the r a t e o f wh ite l o s s dur in g and a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

There

was a s i g n i f i c a n t i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f white l o s s which could be
a t t r i b u t e d t o school d e s e g r e g a t i o n f o r th e two y e a r s f o ll o w i n g
im plem en tation .

A f t e r two y e a r s , however, R o s se ll c laim s t h a t t h e

r a t e o f whit e l o s s was no g r e a t e r than b e f o r e im plem en tation o f
school d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Indeed she f e l t t h a t t h e r e was e v id en ce t h a t

t h e p a t t e r n of white l o s s was r e v e r s i n g as w h ite s t u d e n t s r e t u r n to
Boston p u b l i c s c h o o ls from p a r o c h i a l s c h o o l s .

47

4 6 I b i d . , p. 684.
47

C h r i s t i n e H. R o s s e l l , " B o s t o n 's D es eg reg a tio n and White
F l i g h t , " I n t e g r a t e d Education, Vol. 15 ( J a n . / F e b . 1977): 36-39.

31
R o s se ll s t a t e s t h a t d e s p i t e claims t o t h e c o n t r a r y and in
t h e f a c e o f "prolonged d e f in a n c e " by c i t y l e a d e r s , white e n r o llm e n t
has s t a b i l i z e d in Boston.

She says t h a t h e r s tu d y shows t h a t Boston

has s u c c e s s f u l l y and d r a m a t i c a l l y d e s e g r e g a t e d i t s s c h o o ls with only
a l i m i t e d and temporary i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f wh ite l o s s .

43

Robert L. Green and Thomas F. P e t t i g r e w took s t r o n g e x c e p ti o n
t o t h e c o n c l u s io n s e x p r e s s e d by Coleman.

49

I t is t h e i r contention

t h a t th e Coleman s t u d i e s do n o t show a t r u e r e l a t i o n s h i p between
i n t e g r a t i o n and white f l i g h t .

The d a t a , th ey s a y , a c t u a l l y s u g g e s t s

t h a t white f l i g h t i s a f u n c t i o n o f a " c o n d i t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p
between d e s e g r e g a t i o n in p a r t i c u l a r s i t u a t i o n s r e l a t e d t o t h e p e r ­
c e n t a g e o f blac k c h i l d r e n in a l a r g e c e n t r a l c i t y ' s p u b l i c
s c h o o ls . 1,88
Green and P e t t i g r e w a l s o d i s p u t e Coleman's c o n t e n t i o n t h a t
t h e r e i s a massive l o s s o f white s t u d e n t s in t h e f i r s t y e a r of
desegregation.

They cl aim t h a t Coleman's d a t a a r e unduly skewed by

Memphis and A t l a n t a .

Without t h e s e two " a t y p i c a l s o u th e r n c i t i e s , "

th ey c o n te n d , t h e r e i s no evid en ce o f t h e "massive" l o s s c i t e d .
Green and P e t t i g r e w accu se Coleman o f ig n o r i n g f a c t o r s not
r e l a t e d t o i n t e g r a t i o n which e f f e c t white l o s s d a t a .

They p o i n t

t o d e c l i n i n g white b i r t h r a t e s i n p a r t i c u l a r along with "non48I b i d . , p. 39.
^ R o b e r t L. Green and Thomas F. P e t t i g r e w , " P u b l ic School
D e s e g re g a tio n and White F l i g h t : A Reply t o P r o f e s s o r Coleman,"
p r e p a r e d f o r t h e United S t a t e s C i v i l Rights Commission, Washington,
D.C., December 8, 1975 ( u n p ubli s hed r e p o r t ) .
50I b i d . , p. 7.

32

e d u c a t i o n a l urban problems t h a t d r i v e both white and black f a m i l i e s
Cl

out of the c i t y . "

They f u r t h e r claim t h a t Coleman assumes t h a t

any wh ite l o s s beyond t h e ex pected number was
integration.

white f l i g h t due to

This assumption by Coleman, they s t a t e , was made w i t h ­

out a c t u a l l y as kin g any white f a m i l i e s why th e y moved.
The i n t e g r i t y o f Coleman's r e s e a r c h a l s o comes under q u e s t i o n
by Green and P e t t i g r e w .

They p o i n t o u t t h a t th e 19 d i s t r i c t s used

by Coleman i n h i s f i r s t study ar e n o t th e l a r g e s t 19 urban school
d i s t r i c t s in t h e n a t i o n .

For example they claim t h a t th e Miami-Dade,

J a c k s o n v i l l e - D u v a l , and Ft. Lauderdale-Broward d i s t r i c t s in F l o r i d a
ar e l a r g e r than s e v e r a l used by Coleman i n c l u d i n g t h e one F l o r i d a
d i s t r i c t Coleman used which was Tampa-Hillsborough.

The i n c l u s i o n

o f t h e s e d i s t r i c t s could have changed th e r e s u l t s .
In h i s second a n a l y s i s Coleman added Denver and San F r a n c is c o
t o r a i s e t h e number o f l a r g e s t d i s t r i c t s t o 21.

These d i s t r i c t s

were added because in Coleman's judgment th ey were two o f t h e few
n o r th e r n c i t i e s e x p e r i e n c i n g e x t e n s i v e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Green and

P e t t i g r e w f e e l t h a t t h e a d d i t i o n o f Denver and San F r a n c i s c o wh ile
e x c lu d in g Albuquerque, Nashvi1le- D av id so n , and C har lot te -M ec kl en burg
d i s t r i c t s , which f i t Coleman's c r i t e r i a a t l e a s t as w e l l , had the
p r e d i c t a b l e e f f e c t o f r e i n f o r c i n g Coleman's e a r l i e r c o n c l u s io n s .
To t e s t Coleman's c o n c l u s io n s Green and P e t t i g r e w s e t up a
model i n c l u d i n g Coleman's 21 l a r g e s t d i s t r i c t s p lus Miami, J ack so n­
v i l l e , Ft. La uderd ale, N a s h v i l l e , Albuquerque, C h a r l o t t e , Newark,

51 I b i d . ,

p.

11.

33

C i n c i n n a t i , and S e a t t l e .

All o f t h e s e d i s t r i c t s exceed 75,000

s t u d e n t s which they c la im conform t o Coleman's c r i t e r i a .
The amount o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n from 1968 t o 1973 and t h e p e r ­
cen tag e o f wh ite l o s s over t h e s e same y e a r s was computed f o r each of
th e 30 d i s t r i c t s .

To compare t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s a graph was

developed with f o u r q u a d r a n t s :

"high d e s e g r e g a t i o n and low l o s s of

white s t u d e n t s ; high d e s e g r e g a t i o n and high l o s s ; low d e s e g r e g a t i o n
and low l o s s ; and low d e s e g r e g a t i o n and high l o s s . "

52

To s u p p o r t

Coleman's p o s i t i o n th e d i s t r i c t s should f a l l pr ed ominantly in the
high d e s e g r e g a t i o n - h i g h l o s s and t h e low d e s e g r e g a t i o n - l o w l o s s
quadrants.
When p l o t t e d on t h e graph t h e r e was no p a t t e r n .
were s c a t t e r e d .

The p o i n t s

Green and P e t t i g r e w i n t e r p r e t t h i s t o mean no

s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s between th e amount o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n
and white l o s s .

They f u r t h e r p o i n t to Memphis, A t l a n t a , Denver, and

San F r a n c i s c o as d i s t r i c t s which do f i t Coleman's p a t t e r n .

These

f o u r d i s t r i c t s , th ey c l a i m , had a g r e a t deal t o do with t h e p o s i t i v e
a s s o c i a t i o n s ach ieve d by Coleman.

The a d d i t i o n o f the nine l e f t out

by Coleman e l i m i n a t e d t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p .
In a second t e s t Green and P e t t i g r e w compared th e 1968 black
p r o p o r t i o n o f e n r o l l m e n t with white l o s s between 1968 and 1973.
t h i s i n s t a n c e a r e l a t i o n s h i p was shown.

In

Those d i s t r i c t s with a high

p r o p o r t i o n o f b la c k s in 1968 e x p e r ie n c e d a high w h ite l o s s by 1973.
This r e l a t i o n s h i p was n o t r e l a t e d t o d i s t r i c t s i z e .

52Ibid.,

p.

30.

These r e s u l t s

34

a r e i n t e r p r e t e d t o show t h a t l e v e l o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and d i s t r i c t
s i z e a r e n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o whit e l o s s but t h a t t h e p r o ­
p o r t i o n o f b lack e n r o l lm e n t i s a p r e d i c t o r of wh ite l o s s .
A t h i r d t e s t compared white l o s s e s and blac k g a in s in e n r o l l ­
ment in t h e 30 d i s t r i c t s s t u d i e d by Green and P e t t i g r e w .
c o r r e l a t i o n was e s t a b l i s h e d .
decreased.

A negative

As white l o s s e s i n c r e a s e d , blac k gains

In o t h e r words, black and w h i te e n r o l lm e n t s te n d t o r i s e

and f a l l t o g e t h e r .

This would i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e same non­

d e s e g r e g a t i o n urban problems i n f l u e n c e both wh ite and blac k e n r o l l ­
ments.
Green and P e t t i g r e w s t a t e t h a t t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e i r s t u d i e s
lead t o a c o n c l u s io n t h a t " s t a r k l y c o n t r a s t s " from t h a t o f Coleman's.
They conclude t h a t when t h e n a t i o n ' s " t r u l y l a r g e s t " urban d i s t r i c t s
a r e s t u d i e d in l i g h t o f a f i v e y e a r t r e n d t h e r e i s no d i s c e r n i b l e
r e l a t i o n s h i p between d e s e g r e g a t i o n and white l o s s .

They a l s o p o i n t

o u t t h a t what happens with blac k e n r o l lm e n t s i s a l s o i m p o r t a n t and
must be i n c l u d e d i n any c a r e f u l s tu d y .
Michael W. G iles s t u d i e d t h e s t a b i l i t y o f r a c i a l b alan ce
in one d e s e g r e g a t e d school d i s t r i c t , Duval County, F l o r i d a .

53

Duval

County i s a m e t r o p o l i t a n d i s t r i c t which i n c l u d e s J a c k s o n v i l l e .

It

i s t h e t h i r t e e n t h l a r g e s t school d i s t r i c t in t h e n a t i o n w it h over
120,000 s t u d e n t s , of which a p p r o x im a te ly 30 p e r c e n t a r e b la c k .

54

^ M i c h a e l W. G i l e s , "Racial S t a b i l i t y and Urban School
D e s e g r e g a t i o n , " Urban A f f a i r s Q u a r t e r l y , V o l . 12, No. 4 (June 1977):
499-510.
54Ib id .,

p.

501.

35

The d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f Duval County s c h o o ls took p l a c e in s e v e r a l
stages.

In May 1963 th e f e d e r a l d i s t r i c t c o u r t o r d e r e d Duval to

implement a modified freedom o f ch oic e p l a n .

Under t h i s p lan s t u d e n t s

were given the r i g h t t o t r a n s f e r t o any school w i t h i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
By 1967 th e c o u r t de ter mined t h a t freedom o f ch o ice was n o t working
and o r d e re d t h e school board t o develop n o n - r a c i a l a t t e n d a n c e
patterns.

That o r d e r was l a r g e l y ign ore d and in 1970 th e c o u r t

o r d e r e d t h e school board t o implement a d e s e g r e g a t i o n p la n .

While

t h i s pl an did have s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t , over h a l f o f t h e black
s t u d e n t s were s t i l l

in n e a r l y a l l black s c h o o ls by t h e end o f th e

1970-71 school y e a r .

The c o u r t then o r d e re d a f i n a l , massive

d e s e g r e g a t i o n plan f o r t h e 1972-73 school y e a r , which d id e r a d i c a t e
t h e dual system o f e d u c a t i o n in Duval County.
G il e s t h e o r i z e d t h a t w hites might leave a d e s e g r e g a t i n g
school d i s t r i c t a t e a r l y s t a g e s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n or d u r in g th e y e a r s
fo ll o w i n g im plem en tation.

To t e s t t h i s he c o l l e c t e d d a t a on th e

r a c i a l b a lan ces p r o j e c t e d f o r 1972 and th o s e a c t u a l l y observed f o r
1972.

He a l s o c o l l e c t e d d a t a on r a c i a l b alan ce i n 1974.
From h i s d a t a G iles concluded t h a t t h e r e was s i g n i f i c a n t

w h ite l o s s , p a r t i c u l a r l y a t t h e elem entary l e v e l , in a n t i c i p a t i o n of
d e s e g r e g a t i o n in 1972.

Following d e s e g r e g a t i o n , however, r a c i a l

b alan ce remained r e l a t i v e l y s t a b l e .

Most o f t h e w h ite l o s s could be

acc ou nted f o r by i n c r e a s e s in t h e p r i v a t e school e n r o l l m e n t s .

Loss

t o th e p r i v a t e s c h o o ls tended to be temporary as i n d i c a t i o n s were
t h a t s t u d e n t s r e t u r n e d from p r i v a t e t o p u b l i c s c h o o ls as th ey reached
j u n i o r a n d / o r s e n i o r high l e v e l .

36

G i le s does p o i n t o u t t h a t Duval i s a g e o g r a p h i c a l l y l a r g e
d i s t r i c t which does l i m i t th e a b i l i t y o f i t s p o p u l a t i o n t o avoid
desegregation.

He does n o t s p e c u l a t e f u r t h e r as t o t h e e f f e c t t h i s

may have had on h i s stu dy.
In a b r o a d e r study c overing seven F l o r i d a c o u n t i e s , G i le s
along with E v e r e t t C ataldo and Douglas G a t l i n , looked a t t h e impact
o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n on p r i v a t e school e n r o l l m e n t s .

The seven c o u n t i e s

in volved were Dade (Miami), Duval ( J a c k s o n v i l l e ) , Esambia (Pensec o l a ) , Lee ( F t. Meyers), Leon ( T a l l a h a s s e e ) , Manatee ( B r a d e n to n ),
and Palm Beach (West Palm Beach).

They did f i n d t h a t p r i v a t e school

e n r o l l m e n t s grew by one t h i r d durin g t h e p e r i o d of i n t e g r a t i o n .
Inasmuch as a l l F l o r i d a s c h o o ls ar e county systems and a l l were
d e s e g r e g a t e d between 1968 and 1972 t h e r e was no p l a c e f o r w hites t o
f l e e e x c e p t t o p r i v a t e s c h o o ls .

55

G i l e s , e t a l . , found t h a t growth o f p r i v a t e s c h o o l s , w h ile
r e l a t e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n , did n o t occu r u nifo rmly th ro u g h o u t th e
seven c o u n t i e s .

They found t h a t a t i p p i n g f a c t o r o p e r a t e d .

That

i s , when a p u b l i c school rea ch ed a l e v e l o f 30 p e r c e n t blac k e n r o l l ­
ment, th e l o s s o f w h ite e n r o l l m e n t a c c e l e r a t e d .

They found t h a t

p u b l i c s c h o o ls w ith 29 p e r c e n t or l e s s black e n r o l lm e n t l o s t white
s t u d e n t s a t t h e av er ag e r a t e of 2. 4 p e r c e n t p e r y e a r .

Schools with

over 30 p e r c e n t black e n r o l lm e n t l o s t w h ite s t u d e n t s a t t h e av er ag e
r a te of 6.3 percent per year.

They f u r t h e r concluded t h a t busin g or

Michael W. G i l e s , E v e r e t t F. C a t a ld o , Douglas S. G a t l i n ,
"D es eg reg ati o n and t h e P r i v a t e School A l t e r n a t i v e , " Symposium on
School D es egre ga tion (August 1975), pp. 21-31.

37

th e d i s t a n c e s t u d e n t s were bused d id n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y impact white
s t u d e n t s l e a v i n g as along as th e school in volv ed had n o t rea ch ed th e
" t i p p i n g p o i n t " o f 30 p e r c e n t b lack e n r o l l m e n t .

A f i n a l f i n d i n g of

t h e i r stu d y was t h a t white l o s s was n o t r e l a t e d t o t h e r a c i a l views
o r up b r in g in g o f t h e f a m i l i e s i n volved b u t t h a t i t i s r e l a t e d t o th e
f a m i l i e s ' a b i l i t y t o a f f o r d p r i v a t e school t u i t i o n .

56

Luther Munford in a study done i n M i s s i s s i p p i clai m s t h a t
t i p p i n g i s n o t a t r u e f a c t o r in w h i te l o s s .

He cl ai m s t h a t a school

p o p u l a t i o n can pass 30 p e r c e n t black e n r o l l m e n t w i t h o u t long range
t i p p i n g as long as t h e p o p u l a t i o n r a t i o o f t h e community remains
stable.

White s t u d e n t s may l e a v e t h e school t e m p o r a r i l y , b u t they

w ill retu rn .

Munford claims t h a t white l o§s i s due t o h o s t i l i t y and

t h a t t h e l e v e l of h o s t i l i t y i s r e l a t e d t o th e community p o p u l a t i o n
r a t i o and n o t t o school p o p u l a t i o n .

57

Char les C l o t f e l t e r s t u d i e d t h e r o l e o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n in th e
demand f o r p r i v a t e schools e s p e c i a l l y in r e l a t i o n s h i p t o th e e x i s t CO

ence o f a t i p p i n g p o i n t .

In h i s s t u d y C l o t f e l t e r viewed d e s e g r e ­

g a t i o n in t h e l i g h t o f white and no n-w hite r a t h e r th a n whit e and
black as do most d e s e g r e g a t i o n s t u d i e s .

He s t a t e s t h a t between 1961

and 1971 n o n - C a t h o l ic p r i v a t e school e n r o l lm e n t grew from 0 . 7 m i l l i o n
56I b i d . , p. 30.
57

L uther Munford, "Schools t h a t Quit T ipping in M i s s i s s i p p i , "
Symposium on School D es egre ga tion (August 1975), pp. 33-42.
58C harles T. C l o t f e l t e r , "School D e s e g r e g a t i o n , ' T i p p i n g , '
and P r i v a t e School E n r o ll m e n t," The J o u rn a l o f Human R e s ources, Vol.
XI, No. 1 (Winter 1976): 28-49.

38

t o 1.4 m i l l i o n with t h e l a r g e s t growth coming in t h e South where the
major d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s o f t h a t e r a took p l a c e .

C lotfelter

p o i n t s o u t t h a t m e t r o p o l i t a n d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n s , which more o f te n
occu r in t h e South, s h a r p l y r e s t r i c t th e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f white
suburbs f o r w h ite f l i g h t .

This l e a v e s t h e p r i v a t e s c h o o ls as th e

only v i a b l e r o u t e f o r white f a m i l i e s t o f l e e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
C l o t f e l t e r clai m s t h a t t h e r e i s no a v a i l a b l e eviden ce to
s u p p o r t a c o n t e n t i o n t h a t t h e r a p i d growth in p r i v a t e s c h o o ls w ill
r e v e r s e s h o r t l y a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s accomplished and be r e p l a c e d
by a shar p d e c l i n e .

He p o i n t s t o C h a r i ott e-M eckle nburg as an example

o f a school d i s t r i c t where p r i v a t e school e n r o l l m e n t grew r a p i d l y
a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n was implemented and has remained high.

59

While

C l o t f e l t e r b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e r e i s a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between
th e l e v e l o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and p r i v a t e school e n r o l l m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y
where white suburbs a r e n o t a v a i l a b l e , he was una ble t o e s t a b l i s h a
precise tipping point.

This i s due t o a d d i t i o n a l f a c t o r s i d e n t i f i e d

by C l o t f e l t e r which impact upon a f a m i l y ' s d e c i s i o n t o move t o a
p r i v a t e s c h o o l.

Those f a c t o r s i n c l u d e household income, a t t i t u d e

toward school d e s e g r e g a t i o n , a t t i t u d e toward p r i v a t e s c h o o l s , and
t h e c o s t o f p r i v a t e s c h o o ls .

C l o t f e l t e r says t h a t i f a l l white

households had equal incomes and i d e n t i c a l p r e f e r e n c e s , a l e v e l o f
non-white e n r o l l m e n t could be p r e d i c t e d beyond which e n r o llm e n t
would t i p and a l l w h ite s would l e a v e . ^
59I b i d . , p. 30.
6 0 I b i d . , p. 33.

Due t o t h e l a c k o f u n i f o r m ity

39

among white households C l o t f e l t e r con ten ds t h a t t h e r e i s no t r u e
tipping point.

The r e s u l t s o f h i s study le d C l o t f e l t e r t o conclude

t h a t t h e most which can be s a i d i s t h a t whit e f l i g h t t o p r i v a t e
s chools i s i n s i g n i f i c a n t f o r s c h o o ls with an e n r o l l m e n t l e s s than
25 p e r c e n t non-white and s chools t h a t reach between 80 p e r c e n t t o
90 p e r c e n t non-white e n r o l lm e n t w i l l be abandoned by w h i t e s .

61

Daniel U. Levine and J e a n i e Keeny Meyer s t a t e t h a t a review
of l i t e r a t u r e e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t t h e r e i s general agreement t h a t wh ite
f l i g h t , l i n k e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n , i s most l i k e l y t o occur in " l a r g e
n o r th e r n d i s t r i c t s with a r e l a t i v e l y high p r o p o r t i o n o f m i n o r i t y
s t u d e n t s surrounded by p r edo m ina ntly w h ite suburban d i s t r i c t s . "

62

They p o i n t a l s o t o a "major l e s s o n " which emerges from
c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h as r e p o r t e d in th e l i t e r a t u r e .

That i s t h e f a l l a c y

of lumping t o g e t h e r school d i s t r i c t s w ith g r e a t l y d i f f e r i n g c h a r a c ­
t e r i s t i c s t o t r y t o de te rm ine p a t t e r n s in white f l i g h t .

Levine and

Meyer f e e l t h a t cas e s t u d i e s o f e n r o l lm e n t p a t t e r n s in i n d i v i d u a l
d i s t r i c t s would be o f val ue in s e e i n g i f th e c o n c l u s i o n s rea ch ed by
r e s e a r c h e r s a r e confirmed by th e " ev en ts a t t h e l e v e l a t which th e
phenomena in q u e s t i o n a c t u a l l y o c c u r . "

For t h i s reason th ey chose

to study t h e Kansas C i t y , Missouri School D i s t r i c t .

63

61 I b i d . , p. 45.
CO

Daniel U. Levine and J e a n i e Keeny Meyer, "Level and Rate
o f Desegre g a ti on and White Enrollment D ec line in a Big C ity School
D i s t r i c t , " So cial Problems, V o l . 24, No. 4 (A pri l 1977): 451-462.
63Ibid.,

p.

454.

40

Levine and Meyer c o l l e c t e d e n r o l l m e n t d a t a on a l l 75 elemen­
t a r y s c h o o ls in Kansas C ity f o r th e p e r i o d between 1956 and 1975.
All d e s e g r e g a t i o n in Kansas Ci ty d u r in g t h i s p e r i o d was n a t u r a l in
t h a t t h e r e was no c o u r t o r d e r i n v olv ed.

64

The f i r s t q u e s t i o n a d d r e s s e d was th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between th e
p e r c e n t a g e o f black e n r o l l m e n t and t h e i n c r e a s e in black e n r o l l m e n t .
To answer t h e q u e s t i o n t h e s c h o o ls were a r r a n g e d i n t o t h r e e groups:
(1) 15 t o 29 p e r c e n t b l a c k ; (2) 30 t o 45 p e r c e n t b la c k ; (3) 46 t o 60
pe rc e n t black.

The change in p e r c e n t a g e o f black e n r o l lm e n t was

compared over two y e a r p e r i o d s from 1956-1975.

I t was found t h a t

t h o s e s c h o o ls with a p e r c e n t a g e o f blac k e n r o l lm e n t between 15 - 29
"were more l i k e l y t o remain s t a b l e , a t l e a s t f o r t h e f o ll o w in g two
y e a r p e r i o d , than were s c h o o ls with a h i g h e r p e r c e n ta g e o f black
enrolIm ent."

65

Second, Levine and Meyer t e s t e d f o r a r e l a t i o n s h i p between
t h e p e r c e n t a g e i n c r e a s e in blac k e n r o l l m e n t and an i n c r e a s e in black
e n r o l l m e n t p e r c e n t a g e s t h e f o ll o w i n g y e a r s .
relationship.

The r e s u l t s d i d show a

Those s c h o o ls e x p e r i e n c i n g a 10 p e r c e n t o r more

i n c r e a s e in a given two y e a r p e r i o d were more l i k e l y t o have a l a r g e
s u b s e q u e n t i n c r e a s e in p e r c e n t a g e o f black e n r o l l m e n t than were
t h o s e s c h o o ls which d e s e g r e g a t e d l e s s r a p i d l y .
6^ I b i d . , p. 455. The term " n a t u r a l " i s used by Levine and
Meyer t o con note an e v e n t t h a t evolved w i t h o u t c o e r c i o n by an e x t e r n a l
agency such as a c o u r t . The term " n a t u r a l l y " i s used t h ro u g h o u t t h i s
d i s s e r t a t i o n in t h e same way as Levine and Meyer have used i t .
65Ibid.,

p.

455.

41

r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t th o s e s c h o o ls with a blac k e n r o l l m e n t p e r c e n t ­
age o f ov er 30 p e r c e n t had a much h i g h e r r a t e o f white e n r o l lm e n t
d e c l i n e than s c h o o ls e n r o l l i n g l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t bl ack.
Levine and Meyer concluded t h a t t h e i r r e s u l t s were c o n s i s t e n t
wi th t h e c o n c lu s io n t h a t white e n r o llm e n ts d e c l i n e more r a p i d l y in
sc h o o ls with high p e r c e n ta g e s o f black e n r o l l m e n t a n d / o r where t h e
p e r c e n t a g e o f blac k e n r o l l m e n t i s i n c r e a s i n g r a p i d l y .

They s u g g e s t

t h a t t h i s shou ld a l e r t p o l i c y makers t o t a k e g r e a t c a r e in d e te r m in ­
ing t h e l e v e l and r a t e o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n t o be o b t a i n e d in d i s t r i c t s
l i k e Kansas C ity i f they wish t o avoid a c c e l e r a t e d wh it e l o s s .

66

P h i l i p Cusick, David Gerbing, and E r n e s t R usse ll conducted
a study o f t h e causes o f white f l i g h t from t h e P o n t i a c , Michigan
School D i s t r i c t f o ll o w i n g c o u r t o r d e re d d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

The P o n tia c

sc h o o ls were d e s e g r e g a t e d in September 1971, amid "heavy and very
h o s tile opposition."

By January 1972, t h e p r o t e s t s had di m inish ed

and th e s c h o o ls were o p e r a t i n g on a d e s e g r e g a t e d b a s i s .

67

The a u t h o r s surveyed a t o t a l o f 406 whit e f a m i l i e s , 193 of
whom had moved o u t o f t h e Po n tia c School D i s t r i c t between 1971 and
1975 and 213 o f whom had remained in t h e school d i s t r i c t .

68

T h e ir

6 6 I b i d - , p. 461.
c"7

P h i l i p A. Cus ick, David W. Gerbing, and E r n e s t L. R u s s e l l ,
"The E f f e c t o f School D eseg re gati on and Other F a c t o r s on t h e Decline
o f th e White P o p u l a tio n in an Urban Environment," Edu cational Admin­
i s t r a t i o n Q u a r t e r l y , V o l . 15, No. 2 (Sprin g 1979): 35-49.
^ E r n e s t L. R u s s e l l , "A Study o f Change and C o n f l i c t in
Court Ordered Busing as a Means o f School Desegre ga tion in an Urban
C it y School D i s t r i c t , " d o c t o r a l d i s s e r t a t i o n , Michigan S t a t e
U n i v e r s i t y , 1978, p. 87.

42

purpose was t o det er m in e which o f s e v e r a l v a r i a b l e s led t o a f a m i l y ' s
d e c i s i o n to move o r remain.

The v a r i a b l e s t e s t e d were:

. . . t h e a t t i t u d e s o f t h e s e f a m i l i e s toward (a) busing
f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n , (b) b l a c k s , ( c ) urbanism, a c a t e g o r y
which encompasses l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s and th e q u a l i t y of
p u b l i c s e r v i c e s in P o n t i a c . 69
They a l s o i n c lu d e d a c a t e g o r y e n t i t l e d p e r s o n a l .
The r e s u l t s o f t h e stu dy i n d i c a t e d t h a t no c o n n e c t io n could
be made between t h e a t t i t u d e s o f white f a m i l i e s toward busing f o r
d e s e g r e g a t i o n and moving.

A d i s l i k e o f busing was common t o both

t h o s e who moved and t h o s e who s ta y e d .

A t t i t u d e s toward th e P o n ti a c

s chools showed only a moderate ca usal r e l a t i o n s h i p t o moving.

Fear

f o r t h e s a f e t y o f t h e i r c h i l d r e n d id n o t prove t o be a f a c t o r in
t h e d e c i s i o n t o move, a lthough th o s e who d i d move eviden ce d a r e d u c ­
t i o n o f f e a r . 7(^
The u n d e r ly in g reason shown f o r white f a m i l i e s l e a v i n g
P o n tia c was t h e i r d i s p l e a s u r e with urban l i v i n g .

There was a l s o an

i n d i r e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p between moving and a n t i - b l a c k a t t i t u d e s which
c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e f a m i l y ' s unhappiness with urban l i v i n g . 7^
The a u t h o r s concluded from t h e i r s tudy t h a t "busing should
not be reg ard ed as an excuse f o r white f l i g h t . "

They s t a t e t h a t th e

s tu d y a c t u a l l y p o i n t s t o t h e need t o c r e a t e an " a t t r a c t i v e urban
environment" and a s o c i e t y f r e e from ra cism i f white f l i g h t i s to be
ended.

They concede t h a t t h i s i s n o t a simple goal.
69I b i d .
^ C u s i c k , e t a l . , op. c i t . , p. 47.
71 I b i d . , p. 49.
72I b id .

72

43

David J . Armor undertook a s tu d y t o a t t e m p t t o r e s o l v e some
o f t h e q u e s t i o n s r a i s e d by th e d e b a te r a g i n g over t h e Coleman
s t u d i e s on wh ite f l i g h t .

In h i s stu d y Armor, l i k e C l o t f e l t e r ,

d e f i n e s m i n o r i t i e s as non-white r a t h e r th an b l a c k .

Armor s t a t e s

t h a t i f wh ite f l i g h t i s caused by r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e th en mandatory
d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n s may be t h e b e s t s o l u t i o n .

I f , however, w h ite

f l i g h t i s caused not by p r e j u d i c e b u t by t h e r e a s s i g n m e n t o f c h i l d r e n
away from neighborhood s c h o o l s , then v o l u n t a r y p l a n s may be more
. . 73
appropriate.
Armor c i t e s e x t e n s i v e l y from Coleman's s t u d i e s as well as
answering t h e s t u d i e s by F a r le y and R o s s e l l .

He a l s o mentions th e

stud y by Green and P e t t i g r e w b u t f e e l s t h a t i t c o n t r i b u t e s l i t t l e
t h a t i s new o r o f va lue.
Armor d e s c r i b e s t h e Coleman and F a r le y s t u d i e s e s s e n t i a l l y
as they a r e r e l a t e d e a r l i e r in t h i s p a p e r .

He does f i n d some f a u l t

with t h e s e s t u d i e s by c laim in g t h a t both Coleman and F a r le y con­
s i d e r only th e amount and not t h e ty pe o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Armor does

n o t f e e l t h a t c o u r t o r d e re d and o t h e r ty p e s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n can be
compared.

He a l s o f e e l s t h a t n e i t h e r Coleman no r F a r l e y a d e q u a t e l y

c o n s i d e r normal white o u t m i g r a t i o n and t h e d e c l i n e in white b i r t h
rate.

F i n a l l y Armor i s n o t s a t i s f i e d t h a t t h e long range e f f e c t s o f

d e s e g r e g a t i o n on wh ite l o s s were c o n s i d e r e d due t o t h e time f a c t o r
involved in the s t u d i e s .
73

74

Armor, op. c i t . , p. 1.

^ I b i d . , pp. 3-6.

44

Looking a t t h e R osse ll s tu d y Armor i s c r i t i c a l o f t h e f a c t
t h a t R o s se ll used p e r c e n t o f wh ite e n r o l l m e n t which he f e e l s f a i l s
t o a d e q u a t e l y c o n s i d e r number o f w h i t e s .

He p o i n t s o u t t h a t i f

black e n r o l l m e n t s grow and white e n r o l l m e n t s ar e s t a b l e , th e p e r c e n t
o f white d e c l i n e s .

He a l s o accus es Rosse ll of d i s r e g a r d i n g o t h e r

f a c t o r s such as d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s p r i o r t o c o u r t o r d e re d d e s e g r e gation.

75
In doing h i s study Armor in c l u d e d only th o s e school d i s t r i c t s

implementing a c o u r t o r d e r e d d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n .

He f u r t h e r l i m i t e d

h is s tu d y t o d i s t r i c t s with o v e r 20,000 s t u d e n t s and g r e a t e r than
10 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t .
d istricts.

This y i e l d e d him a t o t a l o f 54

Armor grouped t h e 54 d i s t r i c t s he s t u d i e d in a number o f

ways; n o r t h e r n d i s t r i c t s , s o u th e r n d i s t r i c t s , d i s t r i c t s with su b u rb s ,
d i s t r i c t s w i t h o u t s u b u rb s , and by p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t s .

76

Armor grouped t h e F l o r i d a d i s t r i c t s t o g e t h e r due t o t h e i r
unique s i t u a t i o n .

All F l o r i d a school d i s t r i c t s a r e county wide and

t h e f a c t t h a t t h e s t a t e has o r d e r e d a l l d i s t r i c t s t o d e s e g r e g a t e
means t h a t t h e r e i s no p l a c e t o go f o r white f l i g h t e x c e p t t o leave
t h e s t a t e o r go t o a p r i v a t e s c h o o l.

As a r e s u l t o f t h i s , ac co rding

t o Armor, t h e F l o r i d a group i s t h e only one where most d i s t r i c t s
c o n t i n u e t o show white e n r o l lm e n t g a m s .
75I b i d . , pp. 6-8.
76I b i d . , p. 10.
77I b i d . , p. 17.

77

45

In o r d e r t o t a k e i n t o acc ou nt demographic f a c t o r s , such as
b i r t h r a t e and o u t m i g r a t i o n , Armor p r o j e c t e d th e ex p ecte d white l o s s
f o r each d i s t r i c t based on p r e - d e s e g r e g a t i o n e x p e r i e n c e .

His study

showed t h a t a c t u a l whit e l o s s exceeded t h e e x p e c te d white l o s s
f o ll o w in g t h e implem entation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n in a l l groups o u t s i d e
of Florida.

The f i r s t y e a r a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n showed t h e g r e a t e s t

wh ite l o s s .

In t h e f i r s t y e a r white l o s s e s were from two t o f o u r

times g r e a t e r than ex pected in most d i s t r i c t s .

As long as f o u r

y e a r s a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n wh ite l o s s e s c o n tin u e d t o range from 1.5
t o 2. 5 times g r e a t e r than ex pected in d i s t r i c t s with a m i n o r i t y
e n r o l l m e n t o f more than 20 p e r c e n t and where white suburbs were
available.

D i s t r i c t s with a m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t o f l e s s than 20

p e r c e n t a n d / o r no wh ite suburbs had s i g n i f i c a n t lower white l o s s
a f t e r t h e i n i t i a l l o s s o f t h e f i r s t y e a r f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
There was n o t a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e between n o r t h e r n and s o u th e r n
school d i s t r i c t s .

78

To study wh ite f l i g h t in m e t r o p o l i t a n d i s t r i c t s which a r e
d e s e g r e g a t e d o u t s i d e o f F l o r i d a , t h e L o u i s v i l l e - J e f f e r s o n County
School D i s t r i c t was used by Armor.

White l o s s was o ver 3 . 5 times

g r e a t e r than p r o j e c t e d t h e f i r s t y e a r f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n but
dropped t o 1.5 t o 2 tim es g r e a t e r t h e n e x t two y e a r s .

Most o f th e

wh ite l o s s could be accounted f o r by g a i n s in p r i v a t e s c h o o l s .
Armor s t a t e s t h a t t h i s l o s s may be temporary as s t u d e n t s le a v e t h e
p r i v a t e schools t o r e t u r n t o p u b l i c s c h o o l s .
78I b i d . , pp. 18-30.
79I b i d . , p. 39.

79

46
Armor concedes t h a t t h e r e i s a n a t u r a l d e c l i n e o f white
e n r o l l m e n t in c e n t r a l c i t y d i s t r i c t s due t o d e c l i n e in w h ite b i r t h
r a t e and w h it e o u t m i g r a t i o n .

He i n t e r p r e t s h is study t o show,

however, t h a t wh ite l o s s i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y a c c e l e r a t e d by mandatory
d e s e g r e g a t i o n which i n c l u d e s busing whites t o m i n o r i t y s c h o o l s ,
e s p e c i a l l y where th e m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t exceeds 20 p e r c e n t .
In c i t i n g s t u d i e s by h i m s e l f and o t h e r s Armor p u r p o r t s t o
show a r e c e p t i v i t y on th e p a r t o f most w h i te s t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n as
long as i t does not r e q u i r e t h e i r c h i l d r e n t o be t r a n s p o r t e d .

He

s e e s r e s i s t a n c e t o mandatory busing as r e f l e c t i n g a s t r o n g white
b e l i e f in neighborhood s c h o o ls .

Whites a l s o b e l i e v e , he s a y s , t h a t

f o r c e d d e s e g r e g a t i o n does n o t improve e d u c a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t y f o r
w h it e s or m i n o r i t i e s and does n o t improve r a c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n .

Whites

a l s o f e a r t h a t f o r c e d d e s e g r e g a t i o n w i l l i n c r e a s e d i s c i p l i n e problems
and r a c i a l t e n s i o n s .

In l i g h t o f t h i s Armor sees v o l u n t a r y p l a n s as

t h e only r e a l hope f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n w i t h o u t r e s e g r e g a t i o n th ro ugh
on
a c c e l e r a t e d whit e f l i g h t .
Several r e s e a r c h e r s and, in p a r t i c u l a r G i l e s , ^ p o i n t o u t
t h a t th e re are often several stages to desegregation.

There i s th e

p e r i o d when i t i s rumored, when a c o u r t c as e i s in p r o g r e s s , when a
c o u r t o r d e r i s pe nding, e t c .

In a d d i t i o n a d i s t r i c t may d e s e g r e g a t e

only a p o r t i o n o f t h e i r s c h o o ls a t one time such as only th e
8 0 I b i d . , pp. 46-47.
8 ^ G i l e s , op. c i t . , pp. 501-502.

47
e lem en tar y s c h o o ls .

Armor was c r i t i c a l o f s e v e r a l s t u d i e s f o r f a i l -

ing t o t a k e such f a c t o r s i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n .

82

The p a t t e r n o f o u t m i g r a t i o n from c e n t r a l c i t i e s t o t h e suburbs
i s n o t a new phenomenon.

Robert Weaver, w r i t i n g f o r t h e U.S. Com­

m is sion on C i v i l R i g h t s , claim s t h a t t h e movement o f th e more a f f l u ­
e n t from c e n t r a l c i t i e s and t h e r e s u l t a n t c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f poor has
long c h a r a c t e r i z e d urban l i f e .

This move t o t h e suburbs was f o r

many y e a r s d i s g u i s e d by t h e f a c t t h a t c i t i e s exten ded t h e i r boundar ie s
f a r o u t and t h e suburbs were b u i l t w i t h i n th e c i t y l i m i t s .

83

The

move t o th e suburbs does have t h e f l a v o r o f s o c i a l c l a s s a cco r d in g
t o Weaver.

The s t a t u s image o f have " a r r i v e d " s o c i a l l y by moving

t o th e suburbs i s held by both c i t y and suburban r e s i d e n t s .

This

a t t i t u d e i s e s s e n t i a l to t h e c o n t i n u e d dynamism o f th e suburban
process.

84
Americans, Weaver p o i n t s o u t , have never had any g r e a t love

fo r the c ity .

The c i t y i s a s s o c i a t e d with v i c e w h ile home ownership

and a small town c o n s t i t u t e v i r t u e .

The b e s t accommodation t o t h i s

c on ce pt and economic r e a l i t y i s t h e suburb.

This i s e s p e c i a l l y t r u e

w ith t h e improved t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s and highways a v a i l a b l e
t o s i m p l i f y movement between c e n t r a l c i t i e s and s u b u r b s . 88
82I b i d . , pp. 46-47.
go
Robert C. Weaver, "The S u b u r b a n i z a t io n o f America," School
D es eg reg a tio n : The Courts and Suburban M i g r a t i o n . A C o n s u l t a t i o n
Sponsored by t h e U.S. Commission on C i v i l R i g h t s , Washington, D.C.,
December 8, 1975, p. 6.
84I b i d . , p. 33.
85I b i d . , pp. 26-35.

48

I n c r e a s e d economic p r o s p e r i t y has allowed many a d d i t i o n a l
p ersons t o j o i n th e a f f l u e n t in th e f u l f i l l m e n t o f t h e i r d e s i r e t o
move t o th e s uburb s.

Weaver claims t h a t t h i s movement, because of

t h e f a c t t h a t a t t h e same time t h e r e was a movement o f r e a d i l y i d e n ­
t i f i a b l e m i n o r i t y p ersons i n t o t h e c e n t r a l c i t y , was i n t e r p r e t e d as
w h i te f l i g h t and was a t t r i b u t e d to r ac ism.

He b e l i e v e s , however,

t h a t wh ile racis m may have speeded s u b u r b a n i z a t i o n , more i m p o r t a n t l y
i t has obscu red th e f a c t t h a t i t would have o c c u r re d in any e v e n t
w ith t h e same zoning b a r r i e r s t o keep out low income f a m i l i e s .

86

Summary
In summary, th e s t u d i e s reviwed seem t o a g r e e t h a t t h e r e i s
white l o s s from c e n t r a l c i t y school d i s t r i c t s and t h a t w h ite l o s s i s
g r e a t e s t in th o s e c i t i e s with a l a r g e black p o p u l a t i o n .
t h e agreement ends.

Beyond t h a t

Coleman and Armor co nnect wh ite l o s s t o school

d e s e g r e g a t i o n sa yin g t h a t th e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f l a r g e l y w h ite suburbs
i s a f a c t o r in i n c r e a s i n g white l o s s from c e n t r a l c i t i e s e x p e r i e n c i n g
desegregation.

Coleman i n d i c a t e s t h a t white l o s s may be l a r g e l y

lim ited to the year of desegregation.

Armor d i s p u t e s t h i s sa yin g

t h a t h i s s tudy shows a reduced but c o n t i n u i n g whit e l o s s r e l a t e d t o
d e s e g r e g a t i o n f o r a t l e a s t f o u r y e a r s f o l l o w i n g th e y e a r o f
desegregation.
Tip ping i s a n o t h e r co nce pt r e l a t e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n by th e
literature.

G iles i d e n t i f i e s 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t as a

t i p p i n g p o i n t beyond which white l o s s a c c e l e r a t e s r a p i d l y .
86I b i d . , p. 41.

Le vin e,

49

e t a l . , a g r e e with G i le s t h a t 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t does
c o n s titu te a tipping point.

C l o t f e l t e r agrees t h a t a tip p in g f a c to r

might well e x i s t , b u t he f e e l s t h a t too many f a c t o r s a r e involved t o
a llo w t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f a p r e c i s e t i p p i n g p o i n t .
F a r l e y , R o s s e l l , Green and P e t t i g r e w do n o t agree t h a t wh ite
l o s s can be r e l a t e d t o school d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

They f e e l t h a t t h e i r

s t u d i e s , in f a c t , show no such r e l a t i o n s h i p .

They p o i n t t o o t h e r

f a c t o r s such as d e c l i n i n g w h ite b i r t h r a t e , n e g a t i v e p e r c e p t i o n s of
urban l i f e , and n a t u r a l o u t m i g r a t i o n from c e n t r a l c i t i e s as th e
a c t u a l cau s es o f w h it e l o s s .

Green and P e t t i g r e w a l s o p o i n t t o a

movement o f b la ck f a m i l i e s o u t o f c e n t r a l c i t y d i s t r i c t s claim ing
t h a t i t i s u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e i r movement i s d e s ig ne d t o es ca pe school
desegregation.^
Gary O r f i e l d , w r i t i n g in Socia l P o l i c y , r e i n f o r c e s Green and
OO

P ettigrew 's fin a l point.

He s t a t e s t h a t " m in o r it y groups them­

s e l v e s a r e beginning t o f l e e very r a p i d l y where th e y a r e a b le t o buy
suburban h o u s in g . "

He f e e l s t h a t t h i s i s n o t an e f f o r t t o f l e e

c o n t a c t s w ith b la c k s b u t a r e sp o n s e t o t h e problems o f c i t y l i f e
and th e a t t r a c t i o n s o f th e s uburb s.
87

Green and P e t t i g r e w , op. c i t . , p. 11.

^ G a r y O r f i e l d , (No T i t l e ) , S o c ia l P o l i c y , Vol. 6, No. 4
( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 24-29.

CHAPTER I I I

METHODS AND PROCEDURES
P opulati on
The p o p u l a t i o n o f th e study c o n s i s t s of th e t o t a l elem entary
(K-6) e n r o l l m e n t o f t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t from th e 1967-68
school y e a r through the 1978-79 school y e a r .
Procedures
The d a t a f o r t h i s study have been e n r o l lm e n t s t a t i s t i c s f o r
the y e a r s o f t h e s tu d y .

The Lansing School D i s t r i c t m a i n t a i n s two

major e n r o l l m e n t r e c o r d s which were used as t h e so u rce o f th e
e n r o l l m e n t d a t a , th e Fourth Frid ay Enrollment Report and t h e Ethn ic
Count R e p o r t .
The Fourth F r id ay Enrollment Report i s a s t a t e r e q u i r e d
r e p o r t of t h e e n r o l l m e n t o f th e school d i s t r i c t on th e f o u r t h Frid ay
f o ll o w in g Labor Day.

This r e p o r t i s t h e b a s i s f o r d e te r m in i n g t h e

amount o f s t a t e a i d t h a t a d i s t r i c t i s t o r e c e i v e .

Because o f i t s

importance th e Fourth Frid ay Enrollment Report i s a u d i t e d y e a r l y by
th e S t a t e Department o f Education.

The Fourth Frid ay Enrollment

Report i s , t h e r e f o r e , t h e most a c c u r a t e e n r o l lm e n t r e p o r t a v a i l a b l e
i n t h e school d i s t r i c t .

Whenever p r a c t i c a b l e , e n r o l lm e n t s from y e a r

t o y e a r a r e compared on t h e b a s i s o f t h e Fourth F r id ay Enrollment

50

51
Report.

In t h i s way one i s d e a l i n g with c a r e f u l l y maximized e n r o l l ­

ment d a ta taken a t t h e same p o i n t in t h e school y e a r each y e a r .
The Eth nic Count Report i s produced a minimum o f two times
a y e a r , once a t Fourth F r id ay and once a t t h e beginning of th e second
s e m e s t e r in J anuary .
basis.

I t i s a l s o produced a t o t h e r times on a needs

This r e p o r t shows t h e number and p e r c e n t o f s t u d e n t s in each

school in t h e d i s t r i c t by r a c e .
Count

Using t h e f o u r t h Fr id ay Ethnic

R e p o r t , th e number o f w h ite and non- white e lem entary s t u d e n t s

was determ ined f o r each y e a r o f t h e study (see Table 1).
Using t h e same d a t a sourc e t h e number and p e r c e n t o f change
f o r both white and non-white e n r o l l m e n t s was p l o t t e d f o r each y e a r
of t h e study ( s e e Table 2).
In o r d e r to examine th e e f f e c t o f c l u s t e r i n g on e n r o l l m e n t s
th e s i x c l u s t e r s ^ were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e groups based on th e y e a r
they were implemented.

Group one was implemented in September 1972

and i n c l u d e s c l u s t e r s one and two; group two in September 1973 and
in c l u d e s c l u s t e r t h r e e o n ly ; and group t h r e e was implemented in
September 1976 and i n c l u d e s c l u s t e r s f o u r , f i v e , and s i x .

A fourth

group was developed which i n c l u d e d a l l o f th o s e e lem entary s c h o o ls
which were never i n c l u d e d in a c l u s t e r .

Two s c h o o l s , Barnes from

c l u s t e r one and High from c l u s t e r t h r e e , were dropped from t h e i r
c l u s t e r s in September 1976 b u t f o r purposes o f t h i s s tudy th ey were
t r e a t e d as c o n t i n u i n g members o f t h e i r c l u s t e r s .

One s c h o o l , Kendon,

^See Appendices A, B, and C f o r a l i s t i n g o f th e C l u s t e r s
and maps showing t h e l o c a t i o n o f t h e s c h o o ls in each c l u s t e r and
th e n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls .

52

Table 1 . - - F o u r t h Friday Elementary Et h nic Count.*
RACE
Year

Whi t e

Non-White

1967-68

15766

2878

1968-69

15730

3213

1969-70

15538

3466

1970-71

15036

3869

1971-72

14516

4186

1972-73

13619

4456

1973-74

12743

4577

1974-75

12080

4819

1975-76

11905

4892

1976-77

11412

4923

1977-78

10620

5056

1978-79

9927

5065

*

Taken from th e Fourth Frid ay E th n ic Count r e p o r t s o f th e
Lansing School D i s t r i c t , 1967-78.

was added t o c l u s t e r two in September 1976 b u t f o r pu rp ose s o f t h i s
s tu dy Kendon's e n r o l lm e n t was n o t i n c l u d e d in any of t h e f o u r groups.
Using t h e f o u r t h Frid ay Ethnic Count Report t h e w h i te and non-white
e n r o l l m e n t o f each group was c h a r t e d f o r t h e y e a r s o f t h e study
(Tables 3 through 6 ) .
To determ in e t h e p r e s e n c e o f a t i p p i n g f a c t o r i n t h e Lansing
ele m e n ta r y s c h o o l s , t h e p e r c e n t o f no n-w hite s t u d e n t s was l i s t e d

Table 2 . --Number and P e r c e n t o f White and Non-White Enrollment Change.*
Percent
Change

Change

P ercent
Change

3213

+335

11.6

1.2

3466

+253

7.9

-502

3.3

3869

+403

11.6

14516

-520

3.5

4186

+317

8.2

1972-73

13619

-897

6.2

4456

+270

6.5

1973-74

12743

-876

6.4

4577

+121

2.7

1974-75

12080

-663

5.2

4819

+242

5.3

1975-76

11905

-175

1.4

4892

+ 73

1.5

1976-77

11412

-493

4.1

4923

+ 31

0.6

1977-78

10620

-792

6. 9

5056

+133

2.7

1978-79

9927

-693

6.5

5065

+

0.1

Year

White

1967-68

15766

1968-69

15730

- 36

0

1969-70

15538

-192

1970-71

15036

1971-72

Change

Non-White
2878

9

★
Taken from th e Fourth Friday Ethnic Count r e p o r t s o f th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t , 1967-78.

54

*

Ta ble 3 . --Group 1, C l u s t e r s I and I I Implemented September 1972.
RACE

Year
White

Non-White

1967-68

2550

666

1968-69

2506

674

1969-70

2435

777

1970-71

2389

767

1971-72

2242

755

1972-73

1986

742

1973-74

1786

709

1974-75

1704

705

1975-76

1665

735

1976-77

1528

839

1977-78

1456

846

1978-79

1321

815

*

L ansing

Taken
School

from th e Fourth F rid a y
D is t r i c t , 1967-78.

E th nic

Count r e p o r ts

of

the

55

T ab le

4 . — Group 2 ,

C lu ster

III

Im plem ented

Septem ber

1973.

RACE
Year

White

Non-White

1967-68

1330

401

1968-69

1330

398

1969-70

1292

442

1970-71

1228

461

1971-72

1198

470

1972-73

1081

508

1973-74

1069

485

1974-75

955

505

1975-76

933

513

1976-77

875

497

1977-78

788

524

1978-79

828

512

★
L an sin g

Taken
School

from t h e F ou rth F rid a y
D is t r ic t , 1967-78.

E th nic

Count r e p o r ts

of

the

56

T ab le

5 . — Group

3,

C lu sters

IV,

V,

and

VI

Im plem ented

Septem ber

1976.

RACE
Year

Non-White

White

1967-68

2997

606

1968-69

2947

712

1969-70

2887

782

1970-71

2678

826

1971-72

2513

873

1972-73

2380

863

1973-74

2228

850

1974-75

2041

868

1975-76

2019

822

1976-77

1905

884

1977-78

1672

886

1978-79

1598

854

*
L ansing

Taken
School

from t h e F ourth F rid a y
D i s t r i c t , 1967-78.

E th nic

Count

reports

of

the

57

*
T able

6 . --G roup

4,

Non C l u s t e r s .

RACE
Year

Non-White

White

1967-68

8390

780

1968-69

8491

1202

1969-70

8470

1331

1970-71

8409

1775

1971-72

8260

2048

1972-73

7845

2303

1973-74

7352

2498

1974-75

7064

2700

1975-76

6985

2783

1976-77

6801

2673

1977-78

6449

2768

1978-79

5979

2855

*

L an sin g

Taken
School

from th e Fourth F r id a y
D is t r ic t , 1967-78.

E th nic

Count

reports

of

the

58

f o r each school as of th e f o u r t h F r id ay i n September 1976.

This

was t h e f i r s t f o u r t h Friday Et hnic Count Report f o l l o w i n g th e
completion o f th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n program in the Lansing ele m e n ta r y
schools.

The p e r c e n t of non-white e n r o l l m e n t f o r each school was

a l s o reco rd ed f o r Ja nuary 1979.

This was t h e l a s t E th n ic Count

Report completed dur in g th e p e r i o d o f th e s tu d y .

A s c h o o l ' s member­

s h ip o r non-membership in a c l u s t e r was n o t c o n s id e r e d .

The change

i n p e r c e n t of non-white e n r o l l m e n t f o r each school was computed
(Table 7).
Design and Methodology o f th e Study
The exper im en tal des ig n used in t h i s s tu d y was a r e g r e s s i o n 2
d i s c o n t i n u i t y a n a l y s i s as d e s c r i b e d by Campbell and S t a n l e y .
The
key t o t h i s design i s th e im p o s iti o n o f an e v e n t a t a s p e c i f i c p o i n t
in time which i s s u s p e c te d t o produce a d i s c o n t i n u i t y i n a r e g r e s s i o n
line.

In t h e cas e o f t h i s stu d y t h a t e v e n t was t h e im plemen tation

o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and th e e f f e c t t h a t i t had on e n r o l l m e n t change.
Campbell and S ta n l e y s t a t e :
Perhaps t h e most e f f i c i e n t t e s t would be a c o v a r i a n c e
a n a l y s i s , in which th e a w a r d - d e c i s i o n s c o r e would be
t h e c o v a r i a t e o f l a t e r ac hiev em en t, and award and
no-award would be t h e t r e a t m e n t . 3
In t h i s s tudy c o v a r ia n c e a n a l y s i s was used with time th e c o v a r i a t e
o f e n r o l l m e n t change and d e s e g r e g a t i o n t h e t r e a t m e n t .
2

Donald T. Campbell and J u l i a n C. S t a n l e y , Experimental
and Qu as i-E xp erim en tal Designs f o r Research (Chicago: Rand McNally
C oll ege P u b l i s h i n g Company, 1963), p. 62.
3 1b i d .

59

Table 7 . --Change in t h e P e r c e n t o f Non-White Enrollm ent from
September 1976 t o Jan ua ry 1979.*

Schools

Percent
Non-White
S ept. 1976

Percent
Non-White
J an. 1979

P p r rp n t
r.
"
Chan9e

D istrict

30

34

4

Allen
Attwood
Averill
Barnes
Bingham
Cavanaugh
Cumberland
Elmhurst
Everett
Fair view
F o r e s t View
Foster
Franks
Genesee
Gier Park
Grand River
Gunnisonville
High
Holmes
Horsebrook
Kendon
Lewton
Lyons
Main
Maple Grove
Maple H il l
Maplewood
Moores Park
Mount Hope
North
Northwestern
Oak Park
P l e a s a n t Grove
P l e a s a n t View
P o s t Oak

30
21
23
21
31
30
34
23
36
22
22
17
39
31
35
39
27
43
43
31
28
30
6
38
21
33
24
39
30
14
32
33
24
40
28

32
21
24
20
39
37
37
28
44
27
22
22
41
40
38
33
30
52
44
41
32
35
12
52
26
37
30
44
32
16
44
35
23
44
33

2
0
1
-1
8
7
3
5
8
5
0
5
2
9
3
-6
3
9
1
10
4
5
6
14
5
4
6
5
2
2
12
2
-1
4
5

60

T able

7 . --C on tin u ed .

Schools

Reo
Riddle
S her id a n Rd.
Valley Farms
Verlinden
Wainwright
Walnut
Wexford
Willow
Woodcreek

Percent
Non-White
Sept. 1976

Percent
Non-White
Jan . 1979

Percent
Change

30
45
22
31
38
38
50
31
36
29

36
40
25
32
43
46
47
43
40
44

6
-5
3
1
5
8
-3
12
4
15

The study was d e s ig ne d t o answer t h r e e major q u e s t i o n s :
1.

What has been th e e f f e c t o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n on ele m e n ta r y
e n r o l l m e n t in th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t ?

This q u e s t i o n in volv ed t h e stu d y o f t h r e e f a c t o r s :

(a) was

t h e r e a s i g n i f i c a n t amount o f white e n r o l l m e n t l o s s which could be
attributed

t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n ? ; (b) d i d t h e non-white e n r o l l m e n t

f l u c t u a t e in th e same way o r in a d i f f e r e n t way as th e w h ite e n r o l l ­
ment over t h e p e r i o d o f t h e s tu d y ? ; (c ) was t h e r e a d i f f e r e n c e in
e n r o l l m e n t change du r in g th e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and
t h e f o ll o w i n g y e a r s f o r e i t h e r o r both w h it e and non-white e n r o l l ­
ments?
The time p e r i o d o f t h e s tudy was d i v i d e d i n t o two major
divisions.

The f i r s t d i v i s i o n covered t h e school y e a r s from 1967-68

through 1971-72.

This was th e p e r i o d p r i o r t o th e be g i n n i n g o f

major d e s e g r e g a t i o n and was d e s i g n a t e d as t h e c o n t r o l p e r i o d .
second d i v i s i o n covered t h e school y e a r s from 1972-73 thr ou gh

The

61

1978-79 and was d e s i g n a t e d as t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n p e r i o d .

The

d e s e g r e g a t i o n p e r i o d was f u r t h e r d i v i d e d between th e f i r s t t h r e e
y e a r s f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n and th e b al an ce o f th e p e r i o d .
There has been c o n t in u e d l o s s o f s t u d e n t s from th e Lansing
School D i s t r i c t due t o o u t m i g r a t i o n d u r in g the p e r i o d o f t h e stu dy.
The p a t t e r n o f l o s s due t o o u t m i g r a t i o n was r e f l e c t e d d u r in g th e
c o n t r o l p e r i o d , and d i f f e r e n c e s between th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t
change d u r i n g t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s as compared t o t h e c o n t r o l
y e a r s was c o n s i d e r e d t o be due t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Enrollment d e c l i n e

over t h e p e r i o d o f t h e stu d y was a l s o d i r e c t l y a f f e c t e d by th e
declining b irth ra te .

According t o s t a t i s t i c s compiled and p u b lis h e d

by t h e Michigan Department o f P u b lic H e a l t h , t h e number o f l i v e b i r t h s
p e r y e a r peaked in 1957 and have shown a d e c l i n i n g t r e n d u n t i l 1977.
During t h i s p e r i o d w h ile w h ite b i r t h s have tended t o d e c l i n e , non­
white b i r t h s have tende d t o i n c r e a s e .

In 1957 non-white b i r t h s

made up 11.3 p e r c e n t of t h e l i v e b i r t h s i n Michigan.

By 1977 th e

p e r c e n t o f l i v e b i r t h s in Michigan which were non- white had r i s e n
t o 17.6 p e r c e n t .

Michigan Department o f P u b l i c Health s t a t i s t i c s

a r e n o t a v a i l a b l e f o r th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t o r t h e C ity of
Lansing, b u t th ey a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r Ingham County beginning with
t h e y e a r 1970. Inasmuch as

t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t does comprise

ap p r o x im a te ly o n e - h a l f of t h e school e n r o l l m e n t s o f Ingham County,
t h e l i v e b i r t h d a t a f o r Ingham County b e a r more d i r e c t l y on Lansing
e n r o l l m e n t s than t h e o v e r - a l l s t a t e d a t a .

I t should be p o i n t e d

o u t t h a t t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t does ex tend beyond Ingham County
i n t o small p o r t i o n s o f Eaton and C l i n t o n C o u n t i e s , b u t n e a r l y a l l

62
o f t h e non-white s t u d e n t s o f t h e school d i s t r i c t r e s i d e i n Ingham
County.

As can be seen in t a b l e s 8 and 9, non-white b i r t h s in

Ingham County in 1970 t o t a l e d 506, or 9.4 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l l i v e
births.

In 1977 non-white b i r t h s had d e c l i n e d s l i g h t e d t o 492 but

r e p r e s e n t e d 11.3 p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l l i v e b i r t h s in th e county.
During t h i s same p e r i o d white b i r t h s d e c l i n e d from 4,890 or 90.6
p e r c e n t in 1970 t o 3,865 or 88.7 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l l i v e b i r t h s
in Ingham County.

The e f f e c t of t h i s changing b i r t h p a t t e r n was

f e l t in t h e elem en tary schools by 1967, t h e beg inning o f t h e c o n t r o l
period.

To c o n t r o l f o r t h e s e f a c t o r s a r e g r e s s i o n - d i s c o n t i n u i t y

t e c h n i q u e was used t o i d e n t i f y changes in r a t e due t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
Using t h e S t a t i s t i c a l Package f o r th e S o c ia l S ciences (SPSS
t o o b t a i n an a n a l y s i s of c o v a r i a n c e , t h e d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e r a t e
o f w h ite e n r o l lm e n t change du r in g the d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s and t h e
c o n t r o l y e a r s were measured.
wh ite e n r o l lm e n t

D i f f e r e n c e s between t h e r a t e o f non­

change dur in g th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s and th e

c o n t r o l y e a r s were measured in

th e same way.

S i g n i f i c a n c e was s e t

a t th e .05 l e v e l .
The r a t e
f u r t h e r measured

o f both white and non-white e n r o l l m e n t change was
t o see i f t h e r a t e o f change f o r e i t h e r group

v a r i e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y dur in g t h e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n
as compared t o t h e c o n t r o l y e a r s o r th e l a t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s .
S i g n i f i c a n c e was s e t a t t h e .05 l e v e l .
Slorman H. Nie e t a l . , S t a t i s t i c a l Package f o r t h e Social
S ci en ce s (Second E d i t i o n ; New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975),
pp. 398-433.

Table 8 . — Frequency o f Total Live B irth s in Ingham County by Age and E th n ic /R a cia l C h a r a c t e r is t ic s o f the Mother, 1970-1977.
YEAR
Age C ohorts

1970
U
NW*

1971
NW
U

1972
W
NW

1973
W
NW

1974
W
NW

1975
W
NW

1976
NW
W

1977
W
NW

All Ages

4890

506

4561

507

4043

538

3748

430

3640

459

3495

456

3656

458

3865

492

Under 15

8

1

6

2

4

11

6

5

9

2

14

5

7

4

8

6

15 - 19

768

141

706

134

676

131

637

107

594

133

516

109

520

109

522

108

20 - 24

2070

193

1897

195

1549

197

1427

157

1321

138

1253

169

1306

155

1419

167

25 - 29

1395

109

1361

110

1240

117

1172

102

1237

116

1202

108

1295

127

1317

131

30 - 34

476

36

434

48

412

61

389

41

382

52

390

49

428

48

487

57

35 - 39

134

20

119

12

131

16

99

15

78

13

104

12

91

13

94

19

40 - 44

37

5

37

3

27

5

17

3

17

4

15

4

9

2

14

4

Over■ 45

1

1

1

2

4

0

0

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

3

0

Not S t a t e d

1

0

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

Michian Departm ent o f P u b lic H ea lth S t a t i s t i c s i d e n t i f y r a c e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s as "W h ite ," " B la c k ," "American I n d i a n , " and
"All O t h e r s . " Non-White, in t h i s i n s t a n c e , r e f e r s t o a l l c a t e g o r i e s o t h e r th a n w h ite .
This t a b l e i s a d a p te d from T able 26 BP, "L ive B i r t h s by County: S e l e c t e d C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s by Age o f Mother, Michigan R e s i d e n t s ,
1970-1977." L a n s in g , M ichigan: O f f i c e o f V i ta l and H ea lth S t a t i s t i c s , Michigan Departm ent o f P u b lic H e a lth P04705-01, 1977
( f o r t h e County o f Ingham), p. 33.

Table 9. — Percentage o f Total Live B irth s in Ingham County by Age and E th n ic/R acial C h a r a c t e r is t ic s o f the Mother, 1970-1977.
YEAR
Age C ohorts

1971
NW
W

1970
W
NW*
9 .4

1972
W
NW

1973
W
NW

1974
NW
W

1976
NW
W

1975
W
NW

1977
W
NW

9 0 .0

1 0.0

8 8 .3

11.7

8 9 .7

1 0.3

8 8 .8

11.2

88 .5

11.5

8 8 .9

11.1

88.7

11.3

0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.2

0

0.4

0.1

0 .2

0.1

0 .2

0.1

2 .6

1 4 .8

2 .9

15 .2

2 .6

14.5

3 .2

13.1

2.8

12.6

2 .6

1 2 .0

2 .5

37 .4

3 .8

3 3 .8

4.3

3 4.2

3 .8

32.2

3 .4

31.7

4.3

31.7

3 .8

32.6

3 .8

2 .0

2 6 .9

2 .2

27.1

2.6

28.1

2.4

30.2

2.8

30 .4

2.7

31.5

3.1

30.2

3 .0

8.8

0 .7

8 .6

0.9

9.0

1 .3

9.3

1 .0

9.3

1 .3

9 .9

1.2

10.4

1.2

11.2

1 .3

35 - 39

2.5

0 .4

2 .3

0.2

2 .9

0 .3

2.4

0.4

1 .9

0.3

2 .6

0 .3

2 .2

0 .3

2 .2

0.4

40 - 44

0.7

0.1

0.7

0.1

0.6

0.1

0.4

0.1

0.4

0.1

0.4

0.1

0 .2

0

0 .3

0.1

Over 45

0

0

0

0

0.1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.1

0

Not S t a t e d

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

All Ages

90.6

Under 15

0.1

15 - 19

14.2

2 .6

1 3 .9

20 - 24

3 8.4

3 .6

25 - 29

25 .9

30 - 34

0

*M ichigan D epartm ent o f P u b lic H ea lth S t a t i s t i c s i d e n t i f y r a c e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s as "W h ite ," " B la c k ," "American I n d i a n , " and
"All O t h e r s , " Non-White, in t h i s i n s t a n c e , r e f e r s t o a l l c a t e g o r i e s o t h e r th a n White.

T his t a b l e i s a d a p te d from T ab le 26 BP, "L ive B i r t h s by County: S e l e c t e d C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s by Age o f Mother, Michigan R e s i d e n t s ,
197 0-1977," L a n s in g , M ichigan: O f f i c e o f V i t a l and H ea lth S t a t i s t i c s , Michigan Department o f P u b lic H ea lth P0 4705-01, 1977
( f o r t h e county o f Ingham), p. 33.

65

2-

Does membership in a c l u s t e r have a s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t
on e n r o l l m e n t change in Lansing elem en tary s ch o o ls ?

The Lansing e lem entary s c h o o ls were d i v id e d i n t o f o u r gr ou ps,
(a ) s c h o o ls ne v e r p la c e d in a c l u s t e r s i n c e they were n a t u r a l l y
d e s e g r e g a t e d by t h e make up o f t h e neighborhood th ey s e r v e d , (b)
s c h o o ls p l a c e d in a c l u s t e r beginning w it h th e 1972-73 school y e a r ,
(c ) s c h o o ls p l a c e d in a c l u s t e r beginning w ith th e 1973-74 school
y e a r , and (d) s c h o o ls p la c e d i n a c l u s t e r beginning with th e 197677 school y e a r .

One school was o m itted as i t was added t o an e x i s t ­

ing c l u s t e r in th e 1976-77 school y e a r .
U t i l i z i n g t h e SPSS, a two by two a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e was
used t o compare t h e d i f f e r e n c e in both w h ite and non-white e n r o l l ­
ment changes between t h e y e a r s p r i o r to c l u s t e r i n g and th e y e a r s
a f t e r c l u s t e r i n g f o r each group o f c l u s t e r s c h o o ls .

The e x p e r ie n c e

o f each group o f c l u s t e r s c h o o ls was compared t o t h e n o n - c l u s t e r or
c o n t r o l s c h o o ls f o r th e same time spans.

In t h i s cas e two independ­

e n t v a r i a b l e s were i n v o l v e d , d e s e g r e g a t i o n and membership in a
cluster.

E nrollm en t change remained t h e dependent v a r i a b l e and time

the c o v a ria te .

The a n a l y s i s was used t o t e s t th e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f

t h e i n t e r a c t i o n between t h e e f f e c t s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and membership
in a c l u s t e r .
3.

S i g n i f i c a n c e was s e t a t th e .05 l e v e l .

Has t i p p i n g been a f a c t o r i n th e Lansing e lem en tar y
s c h o o ls s i n c e im plemen tation o f t h e f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n
p la n ? Have th o s e s c h o o ls w i th 30 p e r c e n t o r more non­
w h ite e n r o l l m e n t i n September 1976 e x p e r ie n c e d a more
r a p i d i n c r e a s e in p e r c e n t o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t than
th o s e s c h o o ls with 29 p e r c e n t o r l e s s non-white e n r o l l ­
ment in September 1976?

66
The Lansing e l e m e n ta r y s c h o o ls were p laced i n t o two gr oups,
those with 30 p e r c e n t o r more non-white e n r o l lm e n t in September 1976,
th e time o f th e implementation o f th e f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n p l a n , and
tho se s c h o o ls with 29 p e r c e n t or l e s s no n-w hite e n r o l lm e n t in
September 1976.

The change in t h e p e r c e n t o f non- white e n r o l l m e n t

between September 1976 and Jan uary 1979, t h e l a t e s t u s a b le d a ta
a v a i l a b l e , was computed f o r each s ch o o l.
U t i l i z i n g SPSS th e l e a s t s q u a re s a n a l y s i s was used t o com­
pute a r e g r e s s i o n l i n e showing th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e change
in e n r o l l m e n t s with i n i t i a l e n r o l lm e n t .

A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e was

used t o compare s c h o o ls in t h e two groups wit h p e r c e n t of m i n o r i t y
e n r o l l m e n t in 1976 th e c o v a r i a t e o f t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f change in
non-white e n r o l l m e n t .

The indep endent v a r i a b l e was whet her th e

e n r o l l m e n t was plus or minus 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y i n 1976.

S ignifi­

cance was s e t a t t h e .05 l e v e l .
Hypotheses
A n a ly s is o f c o v a r ia n c e w i l l be used t o t e s t t h e f o ll o w i n g
hypothes es.
General Hypothes is I
There w i l l be s i g n i f i c a n t change shown in t h e r a t e o f e n r o l l ­
ment change i n Lansing e le m e n ta r y s c h o o ls between t h e c o n t r o l
y e a r s and th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s .
O p e r a ti o n a l Hla: There w i l l be s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
(a. £ . 0 5 ) between t h e r a t e o f whit e e n r o l lm e n t change
dur in g t h e c o n t r o l y e a r s and d u r in g th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n
years.

67
O p e r a t i o n a l HIb: There w i l l be s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
(a £ .0 5) between t h e r a t e o f non-w hite e n r o l lm e n t
change d u r in g th e c o n t r o l y e a r s and d u r in g the
desegregation years.
O p e r a ti o n a l HIc: There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
(a <. .0 5) between th e r a t e o f w h it e e n r o l l m e n t change
d u r in g th e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n , th e
1972-73 school y e a r through t h e 1974-75 school y e a r ,
and th e f o ll o w i n g y e a r s .
O p e r a tio n a l Hid: There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
( a s .0 5) between t h e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t
change d u r in g t h e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n ,
t h e 1972-73 school y e a r through t h e 1974-75 school y e a r ,
and t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r s .
Two by two a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e w i l l be used t o t e s t th e
f o llo w in g h y p o t h e se s.
General Hypothes is II
Membership in a c l u s t e r w i l l be shown t o have a s i g n i f i c a n t
e f f e c t on e n r o l lm e n t change in Lansing e lem entary s c h o o ls .
O p e r a tio n a l H I l a : There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
(a < .0 5) in th e r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t change between
s c h o o l s made members o f a c l u s t e r and s c h o o ls n o t in
a cluster.
O p e r a ti o n a l HUb: There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
( a '<. .0 5) i n t h e r a t e o f non- white e n r o l l m e n t change
between s c h o o ls made members o f a c l u s t e r and s chools
n o t in a c l u s t e r .
A n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e w i l l be used t o t e s t the f o ll o w in g
hypothesis.
General Hy pothes is I I I
T ipping w i l l be shown t o be a f a c t o r i n e n r o l lm e n t change
in Lansing ele m e n ta r y s c h o o ls s i n c e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

68

O p e r a tio n a l H I I l a : There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
(a <. .05) between th e r a t e o f i n c r e a s e i n p e r c e n t o f
non-white e n r o l lm e n t in schools with 30 p e r c e n t o r more
non-white e n r o l lm e n t and s c h o o ls w ith 29 p e r c e n t o r
l e s s non-white e n r o l lm e n t in September 1976 between
September 1976 and January 1979.
Summary
Enrollment d a t a from t h e Lansing e l em en ta r y s c h o o ls was
g a t h e r e d f o r th e p e r i o d beginning with th e 1967-68 school y e a r through
t h e 1978-79 school y e a r .
and non- white.

The e n r o llm e n ts were s e p a r a t e d i n t o white

The time p e r io d was s e p a r a t e d i n t o two p a r t s , p r e ­

d e s e g r e g a t i o n and p o s t - d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

The e n r o l l m e n t d a t a was

an alyzed to see i f t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n a c t i v i t i e s f o r t h e Lansing
School D i s t r i c t had an impact on th e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change in
t h e elem entary s c h o o ls o f th e d i s t r i c t .
A n a ly s is of co v a r ia n c e was used in ac co rd an ce with t h e q u a s i ex perim ental de sig n o f r e g r e s s i o n - d i s c o n t i n u i t y d e s c r i b e d by
5
Campbell and S t a n l e y .
The purpose o f t h i s d es ig n was t o de ter m ine
i f t h e implementation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n a t a s p e c i f i c p o i n t in time
had t h e e f f e c t o f producing a d i s c o n t i n u i t y in a r e g r e s s i o n l i n e o f
e n r o l l m e n t change a t t h a t p o i n t in time.
5

Campbell and S t a n l e y , l o c . c i t .

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS

The f i n d i n g s in t h i s c h a p t e r a r e p r e s e n t e d in keeping with
th e p rocedure s o u t l i n e d in Chapter I I I .

The d a t a used t o t e s t t h e

hypothese s o u t l i n e d in Chapters I and I I I w i l l be p r e s e n t e d in t h i s
c h a p t e r as well as o t h e r r e l a t e d f i n d i n g s .
The hypothese s were s t a t e d t o f i n d o u t whether (1) d e s e g r e ­
g a t i o n e f f o r t s in t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t had a s i g n i f i c a n t
e f f e c t on th e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change in t h e ele m e n ta r y s c h o o l s ;
(2) membership in a c l u s t e r made a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in th e
r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change; (3) t h e r e i s a t i p p i n g p o i n t which f u n c ­
t i o n s in t h e ele m e n ta r y s c h o o ls in t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .

The

hypotheses were f u r t h e r s t a t e d t o d eter m in e i f any e f f e c t s on e n r o l l ­
ment change i d e n t i f i e d were d i f f e r e n t f o r w h ite and non-white
students.
Hypothesis I
General h y p o t h e s i s I d e a l t with e n r o l l m e n t change i n th e
Lansing elem enta ry s c h o o ls as t h a t e n r o l l m e n t change r e l a t e d t o t h e
d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s o f th e d i s t r i c t .

69

70

O p e r a ti o n a l Hypothesis la
In o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s i s la th e r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t
change f o r t h e p r e - d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r c o n t r o l y e a r s was compared t o
th e r a t e o f white e n r o l lm e n t change f o r th e p o s t - d e s e g r e g a t i o n
years.

The o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s s t a t e s :
There w i l l be s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .05)
between t h e r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t change dur in g
th e c o n t r o l y e a r s and d u r in g t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n
years.
The d a t a co nfir m o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s la and show t h a t

th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t d e c l i n e was s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r a f t e r
d e s e g r e g a t i o n than b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
D i s c u s s i o n . - - T h e w h ite e n r o l l m e n t f o r each y e a r o f t h e s tu d y
was used t o p l o t a m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n l i n e f o r t h e c o n t r o l and
desegregation y ears.

As i l l u s t r a t e d in F ig u re 1, d i s c o n t i n u i t y in

th e r e g r e s s i o n l i n e was shown a t t h e p o i n t o f t r e a t m e n t , implementa­
tio n of desegregation.

A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e confirmed th e f a c t

t h a t t h e i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f wh ite l o s s f o ll o w i n g t h e implemen­
t a t i o n o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n was s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e .05 l e v e l .

That i s ,

t h e r a t e o f wh ite l o s s a f t e r t h e implemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n was
s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r th an i t had been d u r in g t h e y e a r s p r e c e d in g
d e s e g r e g a t i o n i n d i c a t i n g t h a t t h e r e was a r e l a t i o n s h i p between th e
implemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and an i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f white
loss.

17.000
16.000
c

15,000

I
osc

14,000

<U

12,000

13,000

LlJ

+J
-E

3

11,000
10,000
9,000
67

68

69

70

72

71

73

74

75

76

77

78

Year

Figure 1 . - - M u l t i p l e Regression Line f o r White Enrollment 1967-68.*
Enrollment = - 3 1 9 .4 ( y e a r) + 622.2429 (Deseg) + (-251.6714) (Deseg x y e a r ) + 16275.4.
For valu e o f y e a r , 67 = 1, 68 = 2, e t c .
For valu e o f des eg , pre deseg = 0, p o s t deseg = 1.

T ab le

1 0 .— A n alysis

Source
C o v a r ia te :
Yearl

of

C ovarian ce

T ab le

Sum o f Squares

for

O perational

df

H yp oth esis

la.

Mean Square

f

Sig. o f f

46, 415,2 87.5

1

4 6 ,415,2 87.5

1174.09

a < .05

Main E f f e c t :
2
Des eg regation

217,638.3

1

217,6 38 .3

5.51

a < .05

Interaction: 3
Year x Deseg

466,571.1

1

466,571.1

Error

316,263.1

8

39,5 32 .9

Total

47, 415,760

11

4,310,523

11.8

a < .05

—

—

—

—

^Sum of squ are s f o r y e a r were n o t a d j u s t e d f o r th e main e f f e c t .
?
Sum o f s qu ar es f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r t h e c o v a r i a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t o t a l
variance.
3
Sum o f square s f o r th e i n t e r a c t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n s of th e main e f f e c t
and c o v a r i a t e .

73

O p e r a ti o n a l Hypothesis Ic
O p e r a tio n a l h y p o th e s is Ic looks a t t h e r a t e o f w h ite e n r o l l ­
ment change over t h e p e r i o d o f th e s tu d y as does o p e r a t i o n a l
hypothesis la.

In I c , however, t h e q u e s t i o n i s narrowed t o see i f

t h e r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t change d i f f e r s d u r in g t h e f i r s t t h r e e
y e a r s of d e s e g r e g a t i o n from t h e c o n t r o l y e a r s and th e t o t a l d e s e g r e ­
gation y ears.

O p e r a tio n a l h y p o t h e s i s Ic s t a t e s :

There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <.
between th e r a t e o f w h it e e n r o l l m e n t change
th e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n , t h e
school y e a r thr ou gh th e 1974-75 school y e a r ,
th e f o ll o w i n g y e a r s .

.05)
du rin g
1972-73
and

A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e did confirm t h i s h y p o t h e s i s .

The

r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t l o s s was s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r d u r in g th e t h r e e
y e a r s immediately f o l l o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
D i s c u s s i o n . - - I n o r d e r to look a t r a t e o f change, t h e p e r c e n t
t h a t w h it e e n r o l l m e n t changed between each o f t h e y e a r s in t h e s tu d y
was compared.

The purpose was t o de te r m in e i f t h e r e was a h i g h e r

r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t l o s s d u r in g t h e t h r e e y e a r s immediately
f o ll o w i n g th e im plemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n th an t h e r e was in th e
y e a r s p r e c e d in g d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r in t h e o v e r a l l p e r i o d f o ll o w i n g
desegregation.

T h e r e f o r e , t h e p e r c e n t o f white change f o r t h e t h r e e

y e a r s a t i s s u e , from 1971-72 t o 1972-73 ( 7 1 - 7 2 ) , from 1972-73 to
1973-74 ( 7 2 - 7 3 ) , from 1973-74 to 1974-75 ( 7 3 - 7 4 ) , were compared t o
t h e o t h e r y e a r s o f t h e stu d y both b e f o r e and a f t e r t h e im plemen tation
of desegregation.

The comparison in v o lv e d a r e g r e s s i o n l i n e based

on d a ta f o r a l l y e a r s o f t h e stu d y with a 95 p e r c e n t c o n f id e n c e

74

i n t e r v a l , ( ± .0 375).

The p e r c e n t o f change in wh ite e n r o l l m e n t

remained w i t h i n th e c o n f id en ce i n t e r v a l f o r a l l y e a r s o f th e study
( F ig u r e 2 ) .

A n a l y s is of c o v a r i a n c e , however, showed t h a t th e r a t e

o f change in white e n r o l l m e n t durin g th e t h r e e y e a r s f o llo w in g
d e s e g r e g a t i o n was s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r th an dur in g o t h e r y e a r s of
th e study (Table 11).
O p e r a t io n a l Hypothesis lb
O p e r a ti o n a l h y p o t h e s i s lb i s e s s e n t i a l l y the same as la
e x c e p t t h a t i t co nc er ns change in non-white e n r o l lm e n t .

In lb th e

r a t e o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t change f o r th e p r e - d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r
c o n t r o l y e a r s was compared t o t h e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t
change f o r th e p o s t - d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s .

The o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s

states:
There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .05)
between th e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l l m e n t change
dur in g t h e c o n t r o l y e a r s and durin g t h e d e s e g r e ­
gation years.
The d a t a con firm o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s lb and show t h a t
th e r a t e of non-white e n r o l lm e n t change d u r in g th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n
y e a r s was s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t than th e r a t e o f non-white
e n r o l l m e n t change dur in g th e c o n t r o l y e a r s .

Rather than an i n c r e a s e

o v e r t h e r a t e o f growth non-w hites had shown du r in g th e c o n t r o l y e a r s ,
however, t h e s i g n i f i c a n t change in non-white e n r o l lm e n t change was
a d e c l i n e in t h e r a t e o f growth.

In o t h e r words, non-white e n r o l l ­

ment c o n tin u e d t o grow a f t e r t h e im plementation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n
b u t a t a s i g n i f i c a n t l y slo w er r a t e .

Actual Rate of
Enrollment Change
Regression Line
95%Confidence Interval

4->
c

01

5- -5(J

01

a.

-

6-

-

8-

-9-1 0 -L

67-68 68-69

69-70

70-71

71-72 72-73 73-74
Between Years

74-75

75-76

76-77

77-78

Figure 2 . - - R a t e o f Change o f White Enrollment Between Each Year 1967-68.*
* P e r c e n t change = (-.0 0 4 7 7 ) ( y e a r ) + ( - . 0 0 7 2 3 ) .
etc.

For valu e o f y e a r 1967=68 = 2, 1968-69 = 3,

T able

11.— A n alysis

Source

of

C ovariance

T ab le

Sum o f Squares

for

H yp oth esis

df

Ic.

Mean Square

F

Sig. of F

C o v ar iate:
Yearl

.003

1

.003

Main E f f e c t s :
Three Post «
Deseg. Years

.001

1

.001

Error

.002

8

.000

—

—

Total

.006

10

.001

—

—

10.819

a < .05

6.226

a < .05

^Sum o f s quare s f o r y e a r were n o t a d j u s t e d f o r the main e f f e c t .
?
Sum o f s qua re s f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r t h e c o v a r i a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n to t o t a l
variance.

77

D i s c u s s i o n . —The non-white e n r o l lm e n t f o r each y e a r of th e
study was used t o p l o t a m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n l i n e f o r t h e c o n t r o l and
desegregation years.

D i s c o n t i n u i t y in th e r e g r e s s i o n l i n e was shown

a t the p o i n t o f t r e a t m e n t , implementation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

I t can

be seen t h a t th e s lo p e o f th e l i n e i s l e s s s t e e p a f t e r t h e implemen­
t a t i o n o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t was b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n ( F ig u r e 3 ) .
This i l l u s t r a t e s th e f a c t t h a t non-white e n r o l l m e n t i n c r e a s e d a t a
slow er r a t e f o ll o w in g d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t had p r i o r t o d e s e g r e g a ­
tion.

A nalys is of co v a r ia n c e confirmed t h e f a c t t h a t th e d e c r e a s e

in the r a t e o f non-white growth f o ll o w in g t h e im plemen tation of
d e s e g r e g a t i o n was s i g n i f i c a n t a t th e .05 l e v e l .
O p e r a ti o n a l Hypothesis Id
O p erational h y p o t h e s i s Id looks a t t h e r a t e o f non-white
e n r o l l m e n t change over the p e r i o d o f t h e s tu d y as does o p e r a t i o n a l
h y p o th e s is lb .

In I d , however, th e q u e s t i o n i s narrowed t o see i f

t h e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t change d i f f e r s d u r in g t h e f i r s t
t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n from th e c o n t r o l y e a r s and t h e t o t a l
desegregation y ears.

O p e r a ti o n a l h y p o th e s i s Id s t a t e s :

There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .05)
between th e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l l m e n t change
dur ing th e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n ; t h e
1972-73 school y e a r through t h e 1974-75 school
y e a r , and th e f o llo w i n g y e a r s .
A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e did not prove t h e h y p o t h e s i s .

The

o v e r a l l d a ta show t h a t th e r a t e o f i n c r e a s e in m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t s
d e c l i n e d over t h e p e r i o d o f t h e s tudy and th e p e r c e n t o f e n r o l lm e n t
change was s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d wit h y e a r , r = - .9 1 2 4 8 .

However,

5500 5000 ■
4500 ■
4000 ■
3500 3000 .

2500
2000
67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

Year

Figure 3 . —M u lt i p l e Regres sion Line f o r Non-White Enrollment 1967-68.*
Enrollment = 327.2 ( y e a r ) + 1357.5 (Deseg) + ( -2 2 4 . 0 ) (Deseg x y e a r ) + 254.80.
o f y e a r , 67 = 1, 6 8 = 2, e t c .
For valu e o f des eg , pre deseg = 0, p o s t deseg = 1.

For value

T able

1 2 .— A n alysis

of

C ovarian ce

T able

for

O perational

H yp oth esis

lb .

df

Mean Square

F

Sig. o f F

5,8 7 6 ,6 3 6 .3

1

5 , 8 7 6 ,6 3 6 .3

1638.92

a < .05

85,293.1

1

85,293.1

23.79

a < .05

369,794.2

1

369,794.2

103.13

a < .05

Error

2 8 ,685.4

8

3,58 5.7

—

—

Total

6 , 3 6 0 ,4 0 9 . 0

11

578,219.0

—

—

Source

Sum o f Squares

C o v ar iate:
Yearl
Main E f f e c t :
2
D esegrega tion
Interaction:
~
Deseg. x y e a r

^Sum o f s qu are s f o r y e a r were not a d j u s t e d f o r t h e main e f f e c t .
2

Sum o f sq u a re s f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r the c o v a r i a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n to t o t a l

variance.
3

Sum o f sq u a re s f o r th e i n t e r a c t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r th e c o n t r i b u t i o n s of th e main e f f e c t
and c o v a r i a t e .

80

t h e r e was no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e between the e n r o l l m e n t changes in
th e t h r e e y e a r s immediately f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a t i o n and th e e n r o l l ­
ment changes d u r in g th e p r e - d e s e g r e g a t i o n ( c o n t r o l ) y e a r s and th e
l a t e r years of desegregation.
D i s c u s s i o n . - - I n o r d e r t o look a t r a t e of change, t h e p e r c e n t
t h a t non- white e n r o l lm e n t changed between each o f t h e y e a r s in the
stud y was compared.

The purpose was to determine i f t h e r e was a

h i g h e r r a t e o f non -w hite e n r o l lm e n t change d u r in g the t h r e e y e a r s
immediately f o ll o w i n g th e implem en tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n than t h e r e
was in th e y e a r s p r e c e d in g d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r in t h e o v e r a l l p e r i o d
f o ll o w in g d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

T h e r e f o r e , th e p e r c e n t o f non-white change

f o r t h e t h r e e y e a r s a t i s s u e , from 1971-72 t o 1972-73 ( 7 1 - 7 2 ) , from
1972-73 t o 1973-74 ( 7 2 - 7 3 ) , from 1973-74 to 1974-75 ( 7 3 -7 4 ) , were
compared to t h e o t h e r y e a r s o f t h e stu d y both b e f o r e and a f t e r th e
im plemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

The comparison in v o lv e d a r e g r e s ­

s i o n l i n e based on d a t a f o r a l l y e a r s o f t h e stu d y w ith a 95 p e r c e n t
c o n f i d e n c e i n t e r v a l , ( ± .0 352).

Enr ollm en t change f o r a l l y e a r s o f

t h e s tu d y f e l l w i t h i n th e con f id e n c e i n t e r v a l .
Fig ure 4 t h a t non-white e n r o l l m e n t d e c r e a s e d .

I t could ap pea r from
This i s not t h e c a s e .

While t h e a c t u a l number o f non- whites e n r o l l e d i n c r e a s e d , th e p e r c e n t
o f change o r r a t e o f growth g e n e r a l l y d e c l i n e d .

A n a l y s is o f co-

v a r i a n c e f a i l e d t o prove any s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in the r a t e o f
non-white e n r o l l m e n t change d u r in g t h e t h r e e y e a r s f o llo w in g d e s e g r e ­
g a t i o n and t h e o t h e r y e a r s o f t h e s tu d y .

Rate of
Enrollment Change

12

11

Regression Line
10

.. 955» Confidence Interval
9

Percent of Change

8

7
6

5
4
3
2

1
0

67-68

68-69 69-70

73-74 74-75
70-71 71-72 72-73
Between Years

75-76 76-77

77-78

Figure 4 . —Rate o f Change o f Non-White Enrollment Between Each Year 1967-78.*
P e r c e n t change = (-.0 1 1 4 5 ) ( y e a r ) + .13345.
etc.

For val ue o f y e a r , 1967-68 = 2, 1968-69 = 3,

T ab le

1 3 .— A n alysis

Source

of

C ovarian ce

T ab le

Sum o f Squares

for

H yp oth esis

df

Id.

F

Mean Square

Sig. of F

C o v ar iate:
Year!

.014

1

.014

41.284

a < .05

Main E f f e c t s :
Three Post
Deseg. Years^

.000

1

.000

.299

a > .05

Er ror

.003

8

.000

—

—

Total

.017

10

.002

—

—

^Sum of sq u a re s f o r y e a r were not a d j u s t e d f o r th e main e f f e c t .
2

variance.

Sum o f s quare s f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n were a d j u s t e d f o r th e c o v a r i a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t o t a l

83

H yp oth esis

II

General h y p o th e s is I I d e a l t with th e e f f e c t t h a t being a
c l u s t e r o r n o n - c l u s t e r school had on th e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change
e x p e r i e n c e d as a r e s u l t of d e s e g r e g a t i o n in th e Lansing ele m e n t a r y
schools.
O p e r a tio n a l Hypothesis I la
In o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s is I l a t h e r a t e of w h ite e n r o l lm e n t
change f o r th o s e schools made members o f a c l u s t e r was measured f o r
th e y e a r s p r i o r to t h e i r c l u s t e r i n g and f o r t h e y e a r s f o ll o w i n g t h e i r
clustering.

The r e s u l t s of th e two p e r i o d s were compared t o d e t e r ­

mine any v a r i a t i o n in th e r a t e of white e n r o llm e n t change f o r t h e
p r e - c l u s t e r and p o s t - c l u s t e r y e a r s .

In a l i k e manner, t h e r a t e of

w h i te e n r o l l m e n t change f o r n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls , t h o s e s c h o o ls n ev er
made p a r t o f a c l u s t e r , was measured f o r t h e y e a r s p r i o r t o th e
implemen tation o f each c l u s t e r and f o r th e y e a r s f o ll o w i n g t h e imple­
m en t a t io n o f each c l u s t e r .

This meant measuring t h e n o n - c l u s t e r

sc h o o ls on t h r e e d i f f e r e n t time s c a l e s so th ey could be measured
a g a i n s t each o f t h e t h r e e c l u s t e r groups.

The t h r e e c l u s t e r groups

a r e i d e n t i f i e d based on t h e i r y e a r o f implem entation.

Group one

was implemented i n 1972, group two i n 1973, and group t h r e e in 1976.
Each o f th e t h r e e groups were compared t o th e c o n t r o l group s e p a r a t e l y
w ith t h e break p o i n t being th e y e a r o f implementation f o r t h e c l u s t e r
group being c o n s id e r e d .

The o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s is s t a t e s :

There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .0 5)
in th e r a t e o f white e n r o l lm e n t change between
s c h o o ls made members o f a c l u s t e r and s c h o o ls
n o t in a c l u s t e r .

84

The d a t a d i d n o t conf irm o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s I l a .

There

was no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in t h e r a t e o f w h ite e n r o l l m e n t change
between n o n - c l u s t e r schools and c l u s t e r s c h o o ls when a comparison
was made o f t h e i r e x p e r ie n c e b e f o r e and a f t e r t h e implemen tation of
desegregation.

This was t r u e o f a l l t h r e e c l u s t e r groups when com­

pared t o t h e n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls .
Discussion.--F ig u re 5 i l l u s t r a t e s t h a t a l l th re e c l u s t e r
groups e x p er ien ced a s te a d y d e c l i n e in t h e i r p r e c e n t o f w h ite e n r o l l ­
ment over t h e t o t a l p e r io d o f t h e s tu d y .

I t can a l s o be seen t h a t

th e n o n - c l u s t e r group mai ntain ed a s t e a d y p e r c e n t a g e o f white
e n r o l lm e n t f o r t h e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s o f t h e s tu d y b e f o r e e x p e r i e n c i n g
a s te a d y d e c l i n e in t h e i r p e r c e n t of white e n r o l l m e n t from 1970 on
t o th e end of th e s tu d y .

Figure 5 f u r t h e r shows t h a t t h e t h r e e

c l u s t e r groups a l l had a more r a p i d d e c l i n e in t h e i r p e r c e n t of
wh ite e n r o l l m e n t ov er th e p e r i o d o f th e stu d y th an d i d t h e non­
c l u s t e r group.

I t must be n o t e d , however, t h a t t h e d i f f e r e n c e in

t h e l o s s of white e n r o llm e n t ex ten ds o v e r t h e e n t i r e p e r i o d o f the
s tu dy and i s n o t r e l a t e d t o t h e implem en tation o f any o f th e t h r e e
c l u s t e r groups.

A two by two a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e d i d n o t show

the d i f f e r e n c e in d i s c o n t i n u i t y a t t h e p o i n t o f t r e a t m e n t t o be
s i g n i f i c a n t a t th e .05 l e v e l .

I t can n o t be s a i d , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t

membership in a c l u s t e r was t h e cause o f a h i g h e r r a t e o f white l o s s
in t h e Lansing ele men tary s c h o o ls .

85

110%
«

Implemented 1972

■A Implemented 1973

100!

■
q

Implemented 1976
N o n -clu ster

P o in t o f c l u s t e r
i m p le m e n ta tio n

Percent

of

1967

E n ro llm e n t

90%

70%

60%

50%
67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

Year

F i g u re 5 . — Rate o f White En ro llm en t Changes, C l u s t e r vs. N o n - C l u s t e r . *
★
Taken from t h e Fourth Frid ay Et hnic Count r e p o r t s o f th e
Lansing School D i s t r i c t 1967-78.

86

Table 1 4 . - - A n a l y s i s o f Covar iance Table f o r White Enrollment Change.
1972 C l u s t e r s vs. Non -Clusteri
Source

Sum o f
Squares

Covariate:
Year2

df

Mean
Square

F

Si g.
of F

4117.7

1

4117.7

729.1

a < .05

Main E f f e c t s :
Cluster3
Des eg rega tio n^

995.9
51 .3

1

995.9
51.3

176.3
9.1

a < .05
a < .05

Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year^
C l u s t e r by desegS

270.6
15.3

1

270.6
15.3

47.9
2.7

a < .05
a > .05

Error

101.7

18

5. 6

—

--

Total

5552.4

23

241.4

—

--

1

1

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute t h e a n a l y s i s :
(d es eg ) + ( - 1 . 5 ) ( c l u s t e r )
+ ( - 1 . 2 ) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + ( - 6 . 3 ) (deseg x c l u s t e r ) + 107.7.
For val ue o f y e a r : 67= 1; 68=2; e t c .
For v alu e o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n :
p r e - d e s e g r e g a t i o n = 0; p o s t d e s e g r e g a t i o n = 1. For val ue o f c l u s t e r :
non-cluster = 0 ; c lu ste r = 1 .
2
Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r y e a r a r e n o t a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or i n t e r a c t i o n s .
3
Sum o f s q u a re s f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r t h e e f f e c t o f th e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and th e co­
variate.
5
%o f 67 e n r o l lm e n t = - 2 . 5 ( y e a r ) + ( - 2 . 6 )

m ain

C lu ster
e f f e c t , and

by d e s e g r e g a t i o n
the co v a r ia te.

ad justed

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

87

T ab le

1 5 . — A n a l y s is o f C o v a ria n ce T ab le f o r
1973 C lu ste r s v s . N o n -C lu sterl

Source

Sum of
Squares

Covariate:
Year2

W hite

E n rollm ent

Change.

df

Mean
Square

F

3491.3

1

3491.3

589.1

a < . 05

Main E f f e c t s :
C luster^
D e s e g re g a ti o n ^

508.8
23.5

1
1

508.8
23.5

85 .8
4.0

a < .05
a > .05

Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year 4
C l u s t e r by DesegS

129.2
4.4

1

2 1.8

1

129.2
4.4

0.7

a < .05
a > .05

Error

106.7

18

5.9

—

—

Total

4263.8

23

185.4

--

—

Sig.
of F

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute th e a n a l y s i s :
( y e a r ) + ( - 5 . 7 ) (d es eg ) + 0 . 6 ( c l u s t e r )
+ ( - 1 . 8 ) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + 3 . 5 (deseg x c l u s t e r ) + 106.4.
2
Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r y e a r a r e n o t a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or interactio n s.
3
Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r the e f f e c t o f th e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and th e co­
variate.
5
%o f 67 e n r o l l m e n t = - 2 . 1

effect,

C l u s t e r by d e s e g r e g a t i o n
and th e c o v a r i a t e .

adjusted

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

m ain

88

T able

1 6 .--A n a ly sis
1976

of

C lu ster

C ovarian ce
vs.

T ab le

for

W hite

E n rollm ent

Change.

N o n -C lu sterJ

Source

Sum o f
Squares

C o v a r ia te :
Year^

Si g.
of F

df

Mean
Square

F

3835.1

1

3835.1

657.6

a < . 05

925.1

1

925.1

158.6

0 .8

1

0 .8

0 .0

a < .05
a > .05

Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year^
C l u s t e r by DesegS

201.9
5.7

1

201.9
5.7

34.6

1

Error

105.0

18

5.8

—

—

Total

5073.5

23

220.6

—

—

Main E f f e c t s :
Cluster3
Desegregation3

1.0

a < . 05
a > . 05

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute th e a n a l y s i s :
(des eg ) + ( - 0 . 3 ) ( c l u s t e r )
+ ( - 2 . 0 ) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + 3 . 4 (deseg x c l u s t e r ) + 107.4.
2
Sum o f s q u a re s f o r y e a r a r e n o t a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or in te ra c tio n s .
3
Sum o f s q u a re s f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r t h e e f f e c t o f th e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and t h e co­
variate.
5
%o f 67 e n r o l l m e n t = - 2 . 6 ( y e a r ) + ( - 2 . 4 )

effects,

C lu ster
and th e

by d e s e g r e g a t i o n
co v a ria te.

adjusted

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

m ain

89

O p e r a tio n a l Hypothesis l i b
O p e r a tio n a l h y p o t h e s i s l i b examined d i f f e r e n c e s in t h e r a t e
o f non- white e n r o l lm e n t change between c l u s t e r and n o n - c l u s t e r
s c h o o ls in th e same way t h a t white e n r o l l m e n t change was s t u d i e d
in o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s is I l a .

The same groupings o f s c h o o ls were

used and t h e same a n a l y s e s employed.

The o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s i s

states:
There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .05)
in th e r a t e o f non- white e n r o l l m e n t change between
s c h o o ls made members o f a c l u s t e r and s chools n o t
in a c l u s t e r .
The d a t a d id n o t conf irm th e o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o th e s i s f o r the
1972 o r 1973 c l u s t e r s b u t did confirm t h e h y p o t h e s is f o r th e 1976
cluster.

These f i n d i n g s a r e e x p l a i n e d in t h e d i s c u s s i o n below.
D i s c u s s i o n . - -As can be seen from Figure

6

, a l l t h r e e o f th e

c l u s t e r groups had a s i g n i f i c a n t l y lower r a t e o f i n c r e a s e f o r non­
w h it e s t u d e n t s than d id t h e n o n - c l u s t e r group.

As with white e n r o l l ­

ments, t h i s d i f f e r e n c e was evidenced from 1967, s e v e r a l y e a r s b e fore
t h e co ncept o f c l u s t e r i n g f o r t h e Lansing elem entary s c h o o ls was
c onceived, and c o n ti n u e d through t h e 12 y e a r s of t h e s tu d y .

While

t h e 1972 c l u s t e r group e x p e r ie n c e d a n e g a t i v e d i s c o n t i n u i t y in th e
r a t e o f non-white e n r o l l m e n t g a in a t th e break p o i n t (1972), non­
white e n r o l lm e n t grew a t a slow er r a t e , and t h e c o n t r o l group had a
p o s i t i v e d i s c o n t i n u i t y a t th e same p o i n t , non-white e n r o l l m e n t grew
a t a f a s t e r r a t e , a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e d id n o t show t h e d i f f e r e n c e
t o be s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e .05 l e v e l .

The 1973 c l u s t e r group and th e

c o n t r o l group both e x p e r ie n c e d a n e g a t i v e d i s c o n t i n u i t y in th e r a t e

380 360 340 Enrollment

320 .
Implemented 1972

300 .
280 -

Implemented 1973

1967

240 .

of

200

Percent

260 .

180 .

Implemented 1976

220 .

Non-Cluster

.

Point of C luster
Implementation

160 .
140 .
120

.

100
67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

Year

Figure

6

. - - R a t e o f Non-White Enrollment Changes C l u s t e r vs. N on-C lus te r.*

Taken from th e Fourth Friday Ethnic Count r e p o r t s o f the Lansing School D i s t r i c t ,
1967-1978.

91

T ab le

1 7 .--A n alysis
Change.

o f C o v a r ia n c e T a b le f o r N on-W hite
1972 C lu ste r v s. N on-C luster*

Source

Sum of
Squares

df

C o v a r ia te :
Year 3

47248.2

E n rollm ent

Si g .
of F

Mean
Square

F

1

47248.2

105.6

a < .05

156978.4
490.4

1

156978.4
490. 4

350.7
1.1

a < .05
a > .05

35439.7
1661.7

1
1

35439.7
1661.7

79.2
3.7

a < .05
a > . 05

Error

8056.0

18

447.6

—

Total

249874.4

23

10864.1

Main E f f e c t s :
C luster3
D e s e g r e g a ti o n 3
Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year^
C l u s t e r by Deseg 3

1

__
—

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute th e a n a l y s i s :
(cluster)
+ ( 014.3) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + ( - 6 5 . 5 ) (deseg x c l u s t e r ) + 129.6.
%o f 67 e n r o l lm e n t = 17.8 ( y e a r ) + 50.5 (d es eg ) + ( - 3 0 . 9 )
2

Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r y e a r a r e n o t a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or in te ra c tio n s .
3
Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r t h e e f f e c t o f t h e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and t h e co­
variate.
5
m ain

C l u s t e r by d e s e g r e g a t i o n
e f f e c t s , and t h e c o v a r i a t e .

adjusted

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

92

T able

1 8 .--A n a ly sis
Change.

Source
Covariate:
Year^

o f C o v a r ia n c e T a b le f o r N on-W hite
1973 C lu ste r v s. N on-C lu sterl

Sum o f
Squares

df

Mean
Square

E n rollm en t

Sig.
of F

F

50858.2

1

50858.2

92.4

a < . 05

145969.3
4.5

1

145969.3
4. 5

265.2

a < . 05
a > . 05

32438.1
76.6

1

58.9

1

32438.1
76.6

Error

9907.5

18

550.4

—

Total

239254.4

23

10402.4

Main E f f e c t s :
Cluster^
D es egre ga ti on^
Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year^
C l u s t e r by DesegS

1

0 .0

0.1

a < .05
a > .05
—
—

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute t h e a n a l y s i s :
(cluster)
+ ( - 1 9 . 5 ) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + ( - 1 4 . 5 ) ( c l u s t e r x dese g) + 121.7.
2
Sum o f s q u a re s f o r y e a r a r e not a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or interactions.
3
Sum o f s q u a re s f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r t h e e f f e c t o f t h e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and t h e co­
variate.
5
%o f 67 e n r o l lm e n t = 22 .8 ( y e a r ) + 9 . 0 (deseg) + ( - 2 2 . 1 )

m ain

C l u s t e r by d e s e g r e g a t i o n
e f f e c t s , and t h e c o v a r i a t e .

adjusted

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

93

T ab le

19 .--A n a ly sis
Change.

o f C o v a r ia n c e T a b le f o r N on-W hite
1976 C lu s t e r v s. N o n - C lu s te r J

Sum of
Squares

Source
C o v ar iate:
Year2

df

Mean
Square

E n rollm en t

S ig.
of F

F

51529.8

1

51529.8

287.9

a < .05

116998.9
4669.0

1

116998.9
4669.0

653.8
26.1

a < .05
a < . 05

31904.7
2769.5

1
1

31904.7
2769.5

178.3
15.5

a < .05
a < .05

Error

3221.3

18

179.0

--

—

Total

211093.6

23

9178.0

—

--

Main E f f e c t s :
Cluster3
Desegregation^
Interactions:
C l u s t e r by Year^
C l u s t e r by DesegS

1

Formula f o r r e g r e s s i o n l i n e used t o compute th e a n a l y s i s :
%o f 67 e n r o l l m e n t = 32.2 ( y e a r ) + ( - 8 6 . 6 ) (de se g) + 25.1 ( c l u s t e r )
+ ( -2 8 .2 3 ) ( c l u s t e r x y e a r ) + 75.3 ( c l u s t e r x des eg ) + 8 7 . 4 .
2
Sum of s q u a re s f o r y e a r a r e not a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s
or in tera ctio n s.
3
Sum of s qu ar es f o r main e f f e c t s a r e a d j u s t e d f o r a l l o t h e r
main e f f e c t s and f o r t h e e f f e c t o f th e c o v a r i a t e .
4
C l u s t e r by y e a r a d j u s t e d f o r main e f f e c t s and t h e co­
variate.
5
effects,

C lu ster

by d e s e g r e g a t i o n

and

co variate.

the

adjusted

for

clu ster

by y e a r ,

m ain

94

o f non -w hite e n r o l l m e n t gain a t th e brea k p o i n t (1973).

The re d u c ­

t i o n in r a t e o f ga in was g r e a t e r f o r t h e c l u s t e r group than f o r th e
c o n t r o l group b u t once ag ain a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e did not show
t h e d i f f e r e n c e t o be s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e .05 l e v e l .

The 1976 c l u s t e r

group and t h e c o n t r o l group a l s o both e x p e r i e n c e d a n e g a t i v e d i s ­
c o n t i n u i t y in t h e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l lm e n t gain a t th e break
p o i n t with t h e n o n - c l u s t e r group having th e g r e a t e r r e d u c t i o n in
no n-w hite e n r o l l m e n t g a in .

In t h i s i n s t a n c e , a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e

d i d show t h a t t h e d i f f e r e n c e was s i g n i f i c a n t .

D es pite th e in con­

s i s t e n c y o f th e e x p e r i e n c e of t h e 1976 c l u s t e r group, t h e o v e r a l l
r e s u l t s o f t h e d a t a from t e s t i n g o p e r a t i o n a l h y p o t h e s i s l i b would
n o t s u p p o r t a c o n c l u s io n t h a t membership in a c l u s t e r w i l l r e s u l t
i n a h i g h e r r a t e o f growth f o r non-white e n r o l lm e n t .
Hypothesis I I I
O p e r a t io n a l Hypothes is I l i a
Operational hypothesis I l i a addresses the question of a
t i p p i n g p o i n t f u n c t i o n i n g in th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .

The o p e r ­

atio n a l hypothesis s ta t e s :
There w i l l be a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e (a <. .05)
between t h e r a t e o f i n c r e a s e i n p e r c e n t o f non­
w h ite e n r o l l m e n t i n s c h o o ls with 30 p e r c e n t o r more
no n-w hite e n r o l l m e n t and s c h o o ls w it h 29 p e r c e n t o r
l e s s non -w hite e n r o l lm e n t i n September 1976 between
September 1976 and January 1979.
The h y p o t h e s i s was n o t proven.

An a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r ia n c e

found no s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n between 1976 m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t
l e v e l s and t h e amount o f change in m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t s between 1976
and 1979.

A t - t e s t o f s i g n i f i c a n c e a l s o f a i l e d t o prove a s i g n i f i c a n t

95

d i f f e r e n c e between th e group change s c o r e s f o r th e group which
s t a r t e d with l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t and th e group
which s t a r t e d with o r more than 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t .
D i s c u s s i o n . - - T h e p e r c e n t o f m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t f o r each
school in September 1976 was compared t o t h a t s c h o o l ' s change s c o re
o f p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t from September 1976 t o Jan ua ry 1979.
No s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was found between 1976 m i n o r i t y e n r o l l ­
ment l e v e l s and th e amount of change in m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t s
between September 1976 and January 1979, r = - .0 5 4 7 .
While the absence o f s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n between th e
l e v e l o f m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t in i n d i v i d u a l s c h o o ls in 1976 and th e
amount of change th ey e x p e r i e n c e in m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t by 1979
i n d i c a t e d th e l ack o f a t i p p i n g p o i n t in Lansing t h e r e was a concern
t h a t t h e a c t u a l f a c t o r o f t i p p i n g had n o t been d i r e c t l y a d d r e ss e d .
I t was f e l t t h a t per haps a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e could be shown
between th o s e s c h o o ls with l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t
and th o s e s c h o o ls with 30 p e r c e n t or more m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t in
1976 i f th ey were viewed as two groups r a t h e r th an i n d i v i d u a l l y .
Conseq uen tly, t h e amount o f change in m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t f o r th e
two groups between 1976 and 1979 was compared using a t - t e s t f o r
s i g n i f i c a n c e with (a < .05) s e t as t h e l e v e l o f s i g n i f i c a n c e .
approach a l s o f a i l e d t o prove t h e h y p o t h e s i s as no s i g n i f i c a n t
d i f f e r e n c e was shown between t h e gr ou ps.

^ ( 4 3 ) = 0-734.

This

Table 2 0 . - - T i p p in g E f f e c t .

No. of
Schools

1976 Enrollments

1976
Enrollments
Pe r c e n t
Minority

1979
Enrollments
P ercent
Mi nori t y

Change in
P e r c e n t Minority

x

SD

x

SD

X

SD

30% o r more

28

35.57

5.34

40.29

5.48

4.71

4.82

Less than 30%

17

21.88

5.61

25.59

7.27

3.71

3.77

Total Group

45

30.40

8.6 0

34.73

9.46

4. 33

4.55

97

Summary
General h y p o t h e s i s I d e a l t w ith e n r o l l m e n t change in th e
Lansing elem en tary s c h o o ls as t h a t e n r o l l m e n t change r e l a t e d t o the
desegregation e f f o r t s of the d i s t r i c t .

The g e n e r a l h y p o t h e s i s was

d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r o p e r a t i o n a l hypothes es f o r t e s t i n g .

A n a ly s is o f

c o v a r i a n c e was used t o t e s t each o f t h e o p e r a t i o n a l hy p o th ese s.
O p e r a tio n a l h y p o t h e s i s l a was confirmed.

The d a t a show t h a t

t h e r a t e o f wh ite e n r o l lm e n t change was s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t a f t e r
d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t was b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n in th e Lansing
e le m e n ta r y s c h o o l s .

White e n r o l l m e n t d e c l i n e d over t h e e n t i r e

p e r i o d of t h e study b u t d e c l i n e d a t a more r a p i d r a t e a f t e r d e s e g r e ­
g a t i o n than b e f o re d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
O p e r a ti o n a l h y p o t h e s i s lb was confirmed.

The d a t a show t h a t

th e r a t e o f non-white e n r o l l m e n t change was s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t
a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t was b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Non-white

e n r o l l m e n t grew over t h e t o t a l p e r i o d of t h e s tu d y b u t grew a t a
s lo w er r a t e a f t e r d e s e g r e g a t i o n than b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
O p e r a t io n a l h y p o t h e s i s Ic was conf irmed.

The d a t a show t h a t

t h e r a t e o f change in w h ite e n r o l l m e n t was s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r
durin g t h e t h r e e y e a r s immediately f o ll o w i n g t h e im plemen tation of
d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t was f o r o t h e r p e r i o d s o f t h e s tu d y .

White

e n r o l lm e n t d e c l i n e d more r a p i d l y d u r in g t h o s e t h r e e y e a r s than i t
d i d b e f o r e d e s e g r e g a t i o n o r in t h e l a t e r y e a r s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
O p e r a tio n a l h y p o t h e s i s Id was n o t co nfirm ed .

The d a t a do

n o t show t h a t th e r a t e o f change in no n- w hite e n r o l l m e n t was

98

s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t in t h e t h r e e y e a r s f o ll o w in g t h e implementa­
t i o n o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n than f o r o t h e r p e r i o d s o f t h e s tu dy.
General h y p o th e s i s II d e a l t with th e e f f e c t t h a t being a
c l u s t e r o r n o n - c l u s t e r school had on t h e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change
e x p e r ie n c e d as a r e s u l t o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n in t h e Lansing elem en ta ry
schools.

The gen er al h y p o t h e s i s was d i v i d e d i n t o two o p e r a t i o n a l

hypothese s f o r t e s t i n g .

A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e was used t o t e s t

each of t h e o p e r a t i o n a l hy po th es es.
O p e r a tio n a l h y p o t h e s i s I l a was n o t confirmed.

There was no

s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e shown between t h e r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t
change b e f o r e and a f t e r t h e implementation o f a c l u s t e r f o r s c h o o ls
in th e c l u s t e r and f o r s chools n o t becoming members o f a c l u s t e r .
O p erati onal h y p o t h e s i s l i b was n o t confirmed.

There was no

s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e shown between t h e r a t e o f non- white e n r o l l m e n t
change b e f o r e and a f t e r t h e implementation o f a c l u s t e r f o r s c h o o ls
in the c l u s t e r and f o r s c h o o ls n o t becoming members o f a c l u s t e r .
Hypothesis I I I a d d r e s s e d th e q u e s t i o n o f a t i p p i n g p o i n t
f u n c t i o n i n g i n t h e Lansing e lem entary s c h o o ls .

A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i ­

ance and a t - t e s t o f s i g n i f i c a n c e were used t o t e s t th e h y p o t h e s i s .
Hypothesis I I I was n o t confirmed.

Schools with 30 p e r c e n t

o r more m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t in 1976, th e f i n a l im plem en tation o f
d e s e g r e g a t i o n , had n o t ga ined m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t a t a s i g n i f i c a n t l y
h i g h e r r a t e by t h e end o f t h e study (1979) tha n t h o s e s c h o o ls with
29 p e r c e n t o r l e s s m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t in 1976.

CHAPTER V
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This stu d y was d e s ig n e d t o determ in e what e f f e c t d e s e g r e g a ­
t i o n e f f o r t s had on t h e e lem en tar y e n r o l lm e n t o f one medium s i z e d
school d i s t r i c t , t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t , Lansing, Michigan.
The s tu d y s o u g h t to answer t h r e e s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n s .

(1) Did

d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s i n t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t have a s i g n i f i ­
c a n t e f f e c t on th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t change in th e elem entary
s c h o o ls f o r e i t h e r wh ite o r no n-w hite s t u d e n t s ?

(2) Did membership

in a c l u s t e r make a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t
change f o r e i t h e r whit e o r non-white s t u d e n t s ?

(3) Is t h e r e a

t i p p i n g p o i n t which f u n c t i o n s in th e e l em en ta r y s c h o o ls in th e
Lansing School D i s t r i c t ?
A n a ly s is o f c o v a r i a n c e did conf irm a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
i n t h e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change r e l a t e d t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

This

was t r u e f o r both w h ite and no n- white e n r o l l m e n t w it h t h e d i f f e r e n c e
i n change f o r both groups being in th e same d i r e c t i o n .

The r a t e o f

e n r o l l m e n t change f o r w h ite s t u d e n t s , which was d e c l i n i n g b e f o r e
d e s e g r e g a t i o n , ev iden ce d an i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f d e c l i n e with th e
implem en tat ion o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

Non-white e n r o l l m e n t s which had

99

100

been growing p r i o r t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n c o n tin u e d t o grow a f t e r th e
im pl em en ta ti on o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n , but a t a s i g n i f i c a n t l y lower r a t e .
In a look a t e n r o l l m e n t change dur in g t h e f i r s t t h r e e y e a r s
f o ll o w i n g t h e implemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n , i t was shown t h a t th e
r a t e o f d e c l i n e i n w h ite e n r o l l m e n t was s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r d u r in g
t h o s e y e a r s th an f o r t h e o t h e r y e a r s o f th e s tu d y .
t r u e f o r non-white e n r o l lm e n t change, however.

The same was not

While non-white

e n r o l l m e n t s did e x p e r i e n c e a lower r a t e o f i n c r e a s e in t h e s e t h r e e
y e a r s , t h e r a t e o f change was not s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t from t h e
o t h e r y e a r s o f t h e s tu d y .
Membership i n a c l u s t e r was n o t shown t o have a s i g n i f i c a n t
impact on e n r o l l m e n t change i n L a n s i n g 's e l em entary s c h o o ls f o r
e i t h e r w h ite or non-w hite s t u d e n t s .

I n t e r e s t i n g l y , s c h o o ls which

were n a t u r a l l y i n t e g r a t e d p r i o r t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n and, t h e r e f o r e ,
ne ve r became members o f a c l u s t e r m a in ta in e d e n r o l l m e n t b e t t e r than
th o s e s c h o o ls which were n o t i n t e g r a t e d p r i o r t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n and
thus were made members o f a c l u s t e r .

The n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls l o s t

w hite s t u d e n t s a t a lower r a t e and ga in ed non-w hite s t u d e n t s a t a
h i g h e r r a t e than d id c l u s t e r s c h o o ls .

This t r e n d s t a r t e d well

b e f o r e t h e im plementation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n and th e f o rm a tio n of
c l u s t e r s , however, and a n a l y s i s o f c o v a r i a n c e did not show any
s i g n i f i c a n t a l t e r a t i o n of t h e t r e n d when c l u s t e r s were formed.
These r e s u l t s le d t o t h e c o n c l u s io n t h a t some f a c t o r o r f a c t o r s
o t h e r than c l u s t e r i n g were t h e cause o f t h e s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e
i n t h e r a t e o f e n r o l l m e n t change between c l u s t e r and n o n - c l u s t e r
schools.

101

The p r e s e n c e o f a t i p p i n g f a c t o r in th e Lansing School Dis­
t r i c t ' s e l em entary s c h o o ls was n o t confirmed by t h i s s tu d y .

Individ­

ual s c h o o ls with more th an 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o llm e n t s p r i o r t o
f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n (September 1976) were not shown t o be more l i k e l y
to have s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d in p e r c e n t o f m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t
by th e end o f th e s tu d y than were s c h o o ls with 29 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y
enrollment or le s s p r io r to f in a l desegregation.

Even when viewed

as a group, s c h o o ls with more than 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t
p r i o r to f i n a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n showed no s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r gai n
in m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t by t h e end o f t h e s tudy than th e group o f
s c h o o ls with l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t m i n o r i t y e n r o l lm e n t p r i o r t o f i n a l
desegregation.
Di s cuss io n
James Coleman has claimed t h a t th e a c t o f d e s e g r e g a t i n g
s c h o o ls w i l l r e s u l t in th e l o s s o f wh ite s t u d e n t s . ^

This would be

e s p e c i a l l y t r u e , a c cordin g t o Coleman, in d i s t r i c t s l i k e Lansing
where l a r g e l y w h ite suburbs a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r white f l i g h t .
Rosse ll d i s a g r e e d with Coleman.

Christine

She claimed t h a t while t h e r e may be

a s i g n i f i c a n t l o s s o f white s t u d e n t s f o r t h e f i r s t two y e a r s a f t e r
d e s e g r e g a t i o n t h a t t h i s p a t t e r n w i l l then end and may even r e v e r s e
2
i t s e l f wit h white s t u d e n t s r e t u r n i n g .
I t was R o s s e l l ' s f e e l i n g ,
based on e x p e r i e n c e in t h e Boston d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s , t h a t wh ite
s t u d e n t s who had f l e d t o p a r o c h i a l s c h o o ls would r e t u r n t o th e p u b l i c
^Coleman, op. c i t . , p. 12.
2
R o s s e l l , op. c i t . , pp. 36-39.

102
s c h o o ls due t o th e burden o f p a r o c h i a l t u i t i o n c o s t s .

Green and

P e t t i g r e w a l s o d i s a g r e e d with Coleman and p o i n te d o u t t h a t t h e i r
s t u d i e s i n d i c a t e d t h a t whit e and non- white e n r o l lm e n t s tend t o r i s e
or f a l l together.

3

They i n t e r p r e t e d t h i s phenomenon t o i n d i c a t e

e n r o l lm e n t change r e s u l t s from o t h e r th an d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

I t was

t h e i r c o n t e n t i o n t h a t non-w hite s would be u n l i k e l y t o le a v e a school
d i s t r i c t t o avoid d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

The r e s u l t s of t h i s study would

seem t o s u p p o r t , t o a t l e a s t some e x t e n t , each o f t h e s e p o s i t i o n s .
As p r e d i c t e d by Coleman, t h e r a t e o f t h e d e c l i n e in white
e n r o l lm e n t did a c c e l e r a t e with th e im plem en tation o f th e d e s e g re g a ­
t i o n o f L a n s i n g 's ele m e n ta r y s c h o o l s .

While t h i s can l ead t o the

co n c lu s io n t h a t d e s e g r e g a t i o n was th e cause o f th e a c c e l e r a t e d l o s s
o f whit e s t u d e n t s t h e r e were o t h e r f a c t o r s which may have c o n t r i b u t e d
to the lo ss .

The implemen tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n came a t th e same

time as th e o n s e t o f a d e c l i n e in o v e r a l l e n r o l lm e n t s in th e Lansing
schools.

The K-12 e n r o l l m e n t o f t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t reached

a peak of 34,000 s t u d e n t s in 1971.

That e n r o l l m e n t d e c l i n e d s t e a d i l y

from 1971 t o th e end o f t h e s tu d y when t h e K-12 e n r o l lm e n t was l e s s
than 27,000.

This d e c l i n e in e n r o l l m e n t was n o t unique to L ansing ,

but was p a r t of a n a t i o n - w i d e t r e n d r e f l e c t i n g t h e d e c l i n i n g b i r t h
r a t e o f th e 1960s and 1970s.

I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o e s t i m a t e th e

s p e c i f i c impact t h a t th e d e c l i n i n g b i r t h r a t e had on t h e d a t a
d e r i v e d from t h i s s tu d y .
3

An a t t e m p t was made t o c o n t r o l t h e v a r i a b l e ,

Green and P e t t i g r e w , op. c i t . , p. 30.

103

b i r t h r a t e , by comparing t h e d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s t o th e p r e ­
d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s b u t t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h a t c o n t r o l could be
questioned.
Another f a c t o r t o be c o n s id e r e d i s dise nc hantm e nt w ith urban
living.

The l i t e r a t u r e i s r e p l e t e with s t u d i e s claim ing t h a t

f a m i l i e s with th e means t o do so a r e l e a v i n g urban c i t i e s t o escape
such urban problems as t h e growing crime r a t e , p o l l u t i o n and h i g h e r
taxes.

There i s no rea so n t o b e l i e v e t h a t Lansing i s immune t o t h i s

phenomenon.

In de ed , t h e growth of t h e suburbs surr o u n d in g Lansing

would i n d i c a t e t h e o p p o s i t e .

This s tu d y atte m p te d t o c o n t r o l f o r

t h i s f a c t o r by comparing t h e p o s t - d e s e g r e g a t i o n y e a r s t o t h e p r e ­
desegregation y ears.

In t h i s cas e t h e r e i s more reas on t o b e l i e v e

t h a t t h e c o n t r o l was e f f e c t i v e as t h e r e was no major e v e n t which
o c c u r re d a t t h e time o f th e implem en tation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n t o a f f e c t
th i s trend.
In a d d i t i o n to t h e two s p e c i f i c f a c t o r s d i s c u s s e d above, one
co uld s p e c u l a t e on th e e f f e c t o f changing housing p a t t e r n s in Lansing.
P r i o r t o 1970 most f a m i l i e s in Lansing l i v e d in s i n g l e - f a m i l y
dwellings.

Since t h a t time t h e r e has been a phenomenal growth o f

apa r t m e n t u n i t s in Lansing.

Many o f t h e s e u n i t s a r e o f t h e one and

two-bedroom v a r i e t y which do n o t len d themse lves t o occupancy by
f a m i l i e s w ith s c h o o l - a g e c h i l d r e n .

Coupled with t h i s has been an

unprecedented expa nsion o f t h e Oldsmobile m a n ufacturi ng f a c i l i t i e s
and t h e development o f two major roadways which have removed a l a r g e
number o f s i n g l e - f a m i l y d w e ll in g u n i t s from t h e c i t y .

104

There I s a l s o the economic c l i m a t e o f Lansing t o be con­
sidered.

While Oldsmobile, one o f the a r e a ' s major em ploye rs,

expanded th ro u g h o u t th e p e r i o d o f t h e s t u d y , Diamond Reo went o u t of
b u s i n e s s , Motor Wheel was c u t t i n g back on employment, and t h e s t a t e
was b u i l d i n g a major complex o f o f f i c e s o u t s i d e o f t h e c i t y and
r e l o c a t i n g t h e work s t a t i o n s o f many o f i t s employees.

In a d d i t i o n

much o f O ld s m o b il e 's expansion took p l a c e o u t s i d e o f th e c i t y , in
th e su bu rbs.

How much t h e s e economic f a c t o r s had t o do with th e

e n r o l l m e n t t r e n d s o f th e Lansing s c h o o ls i s an unanswered q u e s t i o n .
While th e a c c e l e r a t e d l o s s o f w h it e s t u d e n t s exten ded from
th e im plementation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n t o t h e end of t h e s t u d y , i t was
s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r d u r in g t h e t h r e e y e a r s immediately f o llo w in g
d e s e g r e g a t i o n than i t was du r in g o t h e r p e r i o d s o f th e s tu d y .
conformed with t h e f i n d i n g s o f R o s s e l l .

This

There was no r e a l evidence

from t h i s s t u d y , however, t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e r e d u c t i o n in th e
r a t e o f wh ite e n r o l l m e n t l o s s from Lansing a f t e r t h r e e y e a r s o f
d e s e g r e g a t i o n was accompanied by th e r e t u r n of wh ite s t u d e n t s who
«

had l e f t e a r l i e r e i t h e r t o p a r o c h i a l s c h o o ls o r t o t h e s ub urb s.
Indeed t h e r e i s a q u e s t i o n as t o how many Lansing f a m i l i e s d i d move
t o suburban o r p a r o c h i a l s c h o o ls and why th o s e who d id chose t o do
so.
The suburban s c h o o ls around Lansing e x p e r ie n c e d s u b s t a n t i a l
growth d u r in g t h e e a r l y y e a r s o f t h e s tu d y b u t in more r e c e n t y e a r s
have j o i n e d Lansing in t h e t r e n d o f e n r o l l m e n t d e c l i n e ; a d e c l i n e
which i s mainly a t t r i b u t a b l e t o th e d e c l i n i n g b i r t h r a t e .

Four of

th e major suburban school d i s t r i c t s , DeWitt, Grand Ledge, H o l t, and

105

Waverly, may well r e f l e c t t h e movement o f Lansing f a m i l i e s away from
th e urban a r e a .

Two o t h e r major d i s t r i c t s , East Lansing and Okemos,

more l i k e l y r e f l e c t th e growth of Michigan S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y .

These

d i s t r i c t s do r e p r e s e n t an avenue o f es cape from th e d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f
Lansing s c h o o ls t o l a r g e l y white suburban s c h o o l s , b u t i t i s d i f f i ­
c u l t t o say what e f f e c t t h e i r pr ese nce had on th e d a t a produced by
t h i s s tu d y .
The p a r o c h i a l schools w i t h i n t h e Lansing School D i s t r i c t
a l s o p r o v id e a l a r g e l y white r e fu g e f o r f a m i l i e s f l e e i n g d e s e g r e g a ­
tion.

The p a r o c h i a l school e n r o l l m e n t , however, e x p e r i e n c e d a

d e c l i n e even more dr a m a t ic than th e p u b l i c s c h o o ls t h r o u g h o u t th e
p e r i o d of th e s tu d y .

P a r o c h i a l e n r o l lm e n t sto o d a t 4015 in 1967

bu t had dropped t o 2352 by 1979.

Much o f t h i s d e c l i n e was a t t r i b u t e d

t o a sh arp i n c r e a s e in the t u i t i o n f o r t h e C a t h o l i c s c h o o l s .

In

1967 C a t h o l i c schools e n r o l l e d 3629 o f th e 4015 p a r o c h i a l s t u d e n t s
wi th only 386 s t u d e n t s e n r o l l e d in th e n o n - C a th o l ic p a r o c h i a l
s c h o o ls .

By 1979 e n r o l l m e n t i n t h e C a t h o l i c s c h o o ls had d e c l i n e d t o
4
1513 wh ile n o n - C a t h o l i c p a r o c h i a l e n r o l lm e n t s had r i s e n t o 839.

This n o n - C a th o lic p a r o c h i a l school growth was p r i m a r i l y due t o a
growth in t h e f u n d a m e n t a l i s t C h r i s t i a n s c h o o ls .

While t h e growth

in C h r i s t i a n s c h o o ls came a t t h e time o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f t h e Lansing
e lem en tar y s c h o o l s , i t i s n o t p o s s i b l e t o say t h a t t h e r e was any
c o n n e c t io n between t h e two e v e n t s .

C e r t a i n l y t h e s e s c h o o ls p r o v id e

^These d a t a tak en from th e Fourth F r id a y Enrollm ent Reports
o f th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .

106

a l a r g e l y white r o u t e of e s cap e b u t t h e C h r i s t i a n s c h o o ls dp r e q u i r e
a d o c t r i n a l commitment f o r e n r o l l m e n t which may speak more to a
d e s i r e f o r C h r i s t i a n e d u c a t i o n than to a d e s i r e t o f l e e t h e p u b l i c
schools.

All o f t h e p a r o c h i a l s c h o o l s , both C a t h o l i c and non-

C a t h o l i c , committed them se lves t o a v o i d , t o t h e b e s t o f t h e i r
a b i l i t y , e n r o l l i n g any s t u d e n t s who were s eeking only t o es ca pe th e
desegregation of the public schools.
In perhaps one o f t h e more i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t s o f t h e study
i t was shown t h a t no n-w hite e n r o l l m e n t s , w h ile c o n t i n u i n g t o grow
t h ro u g h o u t the s tudy grew a t a s i g n i f i c a n t l y slo w er r a t e f o llo w in g
t h e implem entation o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n in Lansing.

This f i n d i n g i s in

conform ity with t h e p o s i t i o n o f Green and P e t t i g r e w t h a t white and
non-white e n r o l lm e n t s tend t o f o llo w t h e same p a t t e r n .

If their

c o n t e n t i o n t h a t a slowing in t h e r a t e o f non-w hite growth f o ll o w in g
d e s e g r e g a t i o n i s n o t an i n d i c a t i o n o f any d e s i r e on t h e p a r t o f non­
w h i te s to escape d e s e g r e g a t i o n , t h e n i t co uld p o s s i b l y i n d i c a t e
o t h e r f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g both w h ite and no n-w hite e n r o l l m e n t t r e n d s .
Many o f t h e same f a c t o r s d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r i n r e l a t i o n to
white e n r o l l m e n t change may have impacted no n-w hite e n r o l l m e n t s as
well.

While th e b i r t h r a t e s f o r n on-w hite f a m i l i e s has remained

h i g h e r than th e w h it e b i r t h r a t e , i t has e x p e r i e n c e d a d e c l i n e
s i m i l a r t o th e white b i r t h r a t e .
b lac k f a m i l i e s .

This has been e s p e c i a l l y t r u e f o r

The f a c t o f a d e c l i n i n g b i r t h r a t e may be a major

f a c t o r in th e slow ing r a t e o f non -w hite growth f o ll o w i n g d e s e g r e g a ­
t i o n i n th e Lansing e l e m e n ta r y s c h o o l s .

107

Non-white e n r o llm e n ts have c o n ti n u e d t o grow, however, in
th e Lansing e l em enta ry s chools even i f a t a reduced r a t e .

I f non­

wh ite b i r t h r a t e has d e c l i n e d then th e growth in no n-w hite e n r o l lm e n t
must mean more non- white f a m i l i e s a r e moving i n t o Lansing.

The

movement o f w h ite f a m i l i e s t o t h e suburbs may have c r e a t e d a market
of a f f o r d a b l e housing f o r non- white f a m i l i e s in Lansing.

The growth

o f a p artm ent u n i t s in Lansing has in c l u d e d s e v e r a l hundred f e d e r a l l y
s u b s i d i z e d lo w - c o s t u n i t s .

This has pr ovid e d an o p p o r t u n i t y f o r many

low-income f a m i l i e s both w h it e and non-white t o f i n d housing in
Lansing.

At th e same time many fo rm e r ly a l l - w h i t e neighborhoods in

Lansing have been opened t o non-white f a m i l i e s , f u r t h e r expanding
th e amount o f housing a v a i l a b l e t o non-w hite s.
David Armor claimed h i s s t u d i e s dem onstrated t h a t wh ite
p a r e n t s a r e n o t opposed t o th e co ncept o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n as such as
long as i t does n o t r e s u l t in t h e i r c h i l d r e n being r e a s s i g n e d away
from neighborhood s c h o o ls .
s u p p o r t Armor's claim .

5

The r e s u l t s o f t h i s study do l i t t l e t o

The implemen tation o f c l u s t e r s in t h e Lansing

elem en ta ry s c h o o ls d id r e s u l t in th e re a ss ig n m e n t of w h it e s t u d e n t s
as well as non-white s t u d e n t s o u t o f t h e i r neighborhood s c h o o ls and
r e q u i r e d them t o be t r a n s p o r t e d .

There was no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r ­

ence , however, i n th e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t change f o r e i t h e r white or
non- white s t u d e n t s f o r c l u s t e r o r n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls which could
be a t t r i b u t e d t o c l u s t e r i n g and i t s accompanying b u s in g .

The f a c t

t h a t s t u d e n t s in c l u s t e r s c h o o ls were r e a s s i g n e d and bused t o s c h o o ls
5

Armor, op. c i t . , p. 1.

108

o u t o f t h e i r neighborhood while s t u d e n t s in n o n - c l u s t e r s chools were
n o t , did n o t seem t o be a s i g n i f i c a n t f a c t o r a f f e c t i n g the r a t e of
e n r o l l m e n t change.
The s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e in th e r a t e of e n r o l l m e n t change
f o r c l u s t e r and n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls over th e t o t a l p e r io d o f th e
s tu d y r a i s e s th e q u e s t i o n o f c a u s e .

I t might imply t h a t n a t u r a l l y

i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls have a g r e a t e r hold ing power f o r both wh ite and
non-white s t u d e n t s than do s c h o o ls which a r e s e g r e g a t e d e i t h e r wh ite
o r non -w hite .

On t h e o t h e r hand i t might imply t h a t c e r t a i n ty pe s

of neighborhoods based on a g e , typ e of hou sin g, e t c . , have more
s t a b i l i t y and a r e more l i k e l y to i n t e g r a t e than o t h e r ty pes of
neighborhoods.
Those e lem entary s c h o o ls which were not c l u s t e r e d remained
untouched by t h e c o u r t o r d e r because the y a l r e a d y r e f l e c t e d an
a p p r o p r i a t e r a c i a l b a la n c e .

The problem which L a n s i n g 's d e s e g r e g a ­

t i o n p la n had been des ig n e d t o combat d i d not e x i s t in t h e s e s c h o o ls .
They were n a t u r a l l y d e s e g r e g a t e d as a r e s u l t o f t h e r a c i a l make-up
of t h e neighborhoods which th ey s e rv e .
I t does seem s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t e n r o l lm e n t in t h e s e s c h o o ls
c o n t i n u e d i n a p o s i t i v e d i r e c t i o n d i s t i n c t l y d i f f e r e n t from th e
p a t t e r n obse rved in c l u s t e r s c h o o ls .

They did not l o s e wh ite

s t u d e n t s so r a p i d l y , nor d id r a t e of non-white e n r o l lm e n t slow down.
This would s u g g e s t f o r c o n s i d e r a t i o n t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t n e i t h e r
p e r c e n t a g e of m i n o r i t y e n r o l l m e n t , nor t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of s t u d e n t s
i s as c r i t i c a l a v a r i a b l e in s t a b l e e n r o llm e n t as th e i n t e g r a t i o n
i n neighborhood l i v i n g p a t t e r n s .

109

Michael G i l e s , e t a l . , in a study o f t h e impact o f p r i v a t e
s c h o o ls on white l o s s in d es e g re g a te d school d i s t r i c t s found t h a t a
t i p p i n g f a c t o r was an i m p o rta n t i n g r e d i e n t r e l a t i n g t o w h ite Toss.
They deter m ine d t h a t when a school passed 30 p e r c e n t non-w hite
e n r o l l m e n t th e r a t e o f white l o s s a c c e l e r a t e d .

6

In a stu d y of

d e s e g r e g a t i o n in t h e Kansas Ci ty Schools, Levine and Meyer a l s o
found t h a t t h o s e s c h o o ls with a non-white e n r o l l m e n t o f over 30
p e r c e n t had a much h i g h e r r a t e o f white e n r o l l m e n t d e c l i n e than
s c h o o ls e n r o l l i n g l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t n o n - w h i te .^
T h i r t y p e r c e n t non-white e n r o l lm e n t was n o t shown t o f u n c ­
t i o n as a t i p p i n g p o i n t in t h e elementary s c h o o ls o f Lansing.
There was no s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p shown between a school having
more o r l e s s than 30 p e r c e n t non-white e n r o l lm e n t in 1976, t h e y e a r
o f f i n a l implem en tation of d e s e g r e g a t i o n , and t h e amount o f gain in
non-w hite e n r o l lm e n t i t had by th e end o f th e s tu d y in 1979.

This

r e s u l t would seem t o conform more t o th e s t u d i e s o f Char les
C l o t f e l t e r which l e d him t o conclude t h a t th e most t h a t can be s a i d
i s t h a t whit e f l i g h t i s i n s i g n i f i c a n t f o r s c h o o ls with an e n r o l l m e n t
o f l e s s th an 25 p e r c e n t non-white and t h a t when s c h o o ls reach a
l e v e l between 80 p e r c e n t t o 90 p e r c e n t non-white e n r o l l m e n t th ey w i l l
be abandoned by w h i t e s .

8

g
G i l e s , e t a l . , op. c i t . , pp. 21-31.
^Levine and Meyer, op. c i t . , pp. 451-462.
^ C l o t f e l t e r , op. c i t . , pp. 28-49.

110
The d e s e g r e g a t i o n o f th e Lansing elem entary s c h o o ls was
accomplished with l i t t l e o v e r t o p p o s i t i o n and no v io l e n c e .

Court

o r d e re d d e s e g r e g a t i o n i n volved about h a l f o f th e d i s t r i c t ' s elemen tary
s c h o o ls while t h e o t h e r h a l f were n a t u r a l l y d e s e g r e g a t e d .

Re gardless

o f th e source o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n t h e r e was no ev idence t h a t white
f a m i l i e s d e s e r t e d s c h o o ls when they were d e s e g r e g a t e d .

S t u d i e s made

by th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t i n d i c a t e d t h a t p a r e n t s , while not
happy with d e s e g r e g a t i o n , were s a t i s f i e d with what was happening in
th e s c h o o ls .

This s a t i s f a c t i o n with th e s choo ls may well have been

th e key f a c t o r in th e r e l a t i v e s t a b i l i t y in t h e i r e n r o l l m e n t s .
The s t a f f o f th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t worked d i l i g e n t l y
to develop a pl an of implemen tation f o r d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

V isitation

days f o r p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s were he ld in t h e s p r i n g t o a c q u a i n t
them with th e school th ey would be a t t e n d i n g in th e f a l l .

When

school opened in th e f a l l , v o l u n t e e r p a r e n t s and s t a f f were on hand
t o be s u r e t h a t s t u d e n t s got t o t h e p r o p e r p l a c e and were ap pro ­
p r i a t e l y welcomed.

Care was taken t o c o o r d i n a t e i n s t r u c t i o n between

s c h o o ls w i t h i n a c l u s t e r t o pro v id e c o n t i n u i t y .

The amount of

p la n n in g r e q u i r e d t o accomplish t h e s e g o a l s was e x t e n s i v e .

It

r e q u i r e d a high l e v e l o f c o o p e r a t i o n between a d m i n i s t r a t o r s ,
t e a c h e r s , and p a r e n t s .

The pay o f f , however, was s u c c e s s .

Without

th e pl a n n i n g and c o o p e r a t i v e e f f o r t th e r e s u l t s could have been f a r
different.

Des egre ga ti on in Lansing could have r e s u l t e d in th e

kinds o f c o n f l i c t e x p e r i e n c e d in o t h e r d i s t r i c t s , b u t th e f a c t t h a t
such c o n f l i c t did n o t occur i n Lansing t e s t i f i e s to th e val ue of
e f f e c t i v e p r e - p l a n n i n g and involvement.

Ill
I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r F u r t h e r Research
This stu d y was l i m i t e d t o th e exam inat ion o f one medium
s i z e d school d i s t r i c t which has undergone d e s e g r e g a t i o n .

While th e

r e s u l t s should be i n f o r m a t i v e and h e l p f u l t o o t h e r school d i s t i c t s ,
they cannot be d i r e c t l y a p p l i e d e x c e p t t o th e s e t t i n g from which they
came, th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .

This o r a s i m i l a r stu d y should

be r e p e a t e d i n a number o f school d i s t r i c t s o f v a r y in g s i z e s and
e t h n i c make up in o r d e r to expand t h e base o f knowledge a v a i l a b l e
t o school d i s t r i c t s i nvolv ed in d e s e g r e g a t i o n e f f o r t s .

I t would be

h e l p f u l a l s o t o expand th e co n cep t o f t h i s s tu d y t o th e secondary
sch oo ls o f a d i s t r i c t whose secondary s c h o o ls have undergone
desegregation.
There were a number o f q u e s t i o n s l e f t unanswered by t h i s
stud y which lend the mselv es t o f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h .

The f a c t t h a t both

white and non- white e n r o l l m e n t responded in th e same d i r e c t i o n a t
th e time d e s e g r e g a t i o n was implemented in the Lansing e lem en tar y
schools i n v i t e s f u r t h e r s tu d y i n t o th e c a u s e s .
urban l i v i n g i s a n a t i o n a l co m p la in t .

D i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with

Unhappiness with a r i s i n g

crime r a t e , poor s e r v i c e s , and t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f i n a d e q u a t e ed uca ­
t i o n a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s i s l i m i t e d n e i t h e r t o Lansing nor t o wh it e
citizens.

The study done by Cusick , e t a l . , in P o n t i a c i n d i c a t e s
9

t h a t moving was more r e l a t e d t o urban l i v i n g th an t o d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
I t would be i n t e r e s t i n g t o see i f a survey o f p e r s o n s l e a v i n g Lansing
would y i e l d s i m i l a r r e s u l t s .
^Cus ick, e t a l . , op. c i t . , pp. 35-49.

112

The e f f e c t s t h a t changing housing p a t t e r n s in Lansing have
on th e d e c i s i o n o f f a m i l i e s t o leave would lend i t s e l f t o f u r t h e r
s tu d y .

As d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r in t h i s c h a p t e r , th e expansion of

Oldsmobile, t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f an I n t e r s t a t e Freeway through th e
h e a r t of town, and th e c o n s t r u c t i o n of th e Logan S t r e e t C o r r i d o r
a c r o s s th e we st s i d e o f Lansing upr ooted many f a m i l i e s and pro vide d
them, through th e s a l e o f t h e i r homes a n d / o r government r e l o c a t i o n
f u n d s, with an o p p o r t u n i t y t o seek housing e i t h e r in o r out of the
city.

The I n t e r s t a t e Freeway alo ne removed over 600 homes and th e

Logan C o r r id o r removed a n o t h e r 7 4 . ^

The f a c t t h a t many o f t h e s e

f a m i l i e s were no n-w hite p r o vid e d a unique o p p o r t u n i t y f o r n a t u r a l
i n t e g r a t i o n o f many Lansing and suburban neighborhoods.

What e v i ­

dence we have would l e a d t o th e b e l i e f t h a t non-white f a m i l i e s in
ge neral choose t o r e l o c a t e w i t h i n th e c i t y .

Why t h i s happened and

what impact t h e i r r e l o c a t i o n had on th e n a t u r a l d e s e g r e g a t i o n of
h a l f o f L a n s i n g ' s e le m e n ta r y s c h o o ls could be a stu d y unto i t s e l f .
A r e v e r s e p a t t e r n might be observed in examining what popu­
l a t i o n i s c u r r e n t l y moving i n t o th e c i t y .

I t seems alm ost agr eed

t h a t a f f l u e n t w h i t e s l e a v e while im poverished m i n o r i t i e s move i n .
One might n o t e , however, t h a t many c e n t r a l c i t y houses and apar tm en t
u n i t s a r e now being so u g h t as i n t e r e s t i n g l i v i n g p o s s i b i l i t i e s both
by p r o f e s s i o n a l c ouple s w i t h o u t c h i l d r e n and by s i n g l e p eople.
These groups a r e l u r e d by t h e a t t r a c t i o n s o f c i t y l i v i n g and pro x­
i m ity to t h e i r work.

They do n o t , however, p r o v id e e n r o l l m e n t f o r

^ I n f o r m a t i o n gained through a t e le p h o n e c o n v e r s a t i o n with
Jack Morgan, Michigan S t a t e Highway Department on October 8 , 1980.

113

p u b l i c s c h o o ls .

A more c a r e f u l a n a l y s i s o f who a c t u a l l y moves i n t o

Lansing and why, might add a n o t h e r dimension t o th e u n d e r s ta n d i n g
of "white f l i g h t . "
Another o v e r - a r c h i n g c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s o f c o u r s e , t h e d e c l i n ­
ing b i r t h r a t e .

There ar e fewer c h i l d r e n being bo rn, and school

e n r o l lm e n t s in gross numbers a r e d e c l i n i n g everywhere.

A detailed

comparison o f b i r t h r a t e s , f o r both white and non -w hite f a m i l i e s ,
and e n r o l lm e n t t r e n d s might help t o determine t h e s p e c i f i c e f f e c t of
th o s e b i r t h r a t e s on t h e e n r o l l m e n t t r e n d s o c c u r r i n g a t th e time of
school d e s e g r e g a t i o n .
I t might a l s o be f r u i t f u l to c o n s i d e r t h e employment p i c t u r e
in Lansing as an element i n e n r o l lm e n t d e c l i n e .

The au tomobile

i n d u s t r y , a p r i n c i p l e employer, has undergone changes.

While growing

through much o f th e p e r i o d of t h i s s t u d y , in more r e c e n t y e a r s th e
automobile i n d u s t r y has h i t upon t r o u b l e d tim e s.

As p o i n t e d o ut

e a r l i e r , Diamond Reo has c l o s e d , Motor Wheel has reduced employment,
and in t h e l a s t two y e a r s even Oldsmobile has l a i d o f f l a r g e numbers
of employees.

F am il ie s l o s i n g employment i n th e l o c a l automobile

r e l a t e d i n d u s t r i e s may be l e a v i n g Lansing f o r a r e a s w ith b e t t e r
economic o u t l o o k s .
S t a t e government, a n o t h e r major work p r o v i d e r , has begun t o
d e c e n t r a l i z e , moving many o f f i c e s o u t o f downtown Lansing i n t o t h e i r
Secondary Complex.

F a m ilies who move t o be c l o s e r t o t h e s e o f f i c e s

a l s o move i n t o e i t h e r th e suburban Waverly o r Grand Ledge school
districts.

114

In f a c t , some s p e c i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n should be given t o th e
Waverly School D i s t r i c t which, as a l a r g e l y undeveloped suburb
a d j a c e n t t o Lansing, e x i s t s as an a l t e r n a t i v e in s t a f f i n g , program
and r a c i a l composition f o r f a m i l i e s who want t o remain c l o s e to the
urban c e n t e r , b u t d e s i r e a d i f f e r e n t e d u c a t i o n a l s e t t i n g .

The a v a i l ­

a b i l i t y of the Waverly School D i s t r i c t may be extr e m e l y s i g n i f i c a n t
in th e l o s s o f white s t u d e n t s from th e Lansing School D i s t r i c t .
Another a s p e c t which has only been touched upon i s e n r o l l m e n t
i n n o n - p u b lic s c h o o l s .

Data r e p o r t e d e a r l i e r show t h a t w h ile e n r o l l ­

ment in C a t h o l i c s choo ls i s d e c l i n i n g , e n r o l lm e n t in o t h e r n o n - p u b li c
s c h o o ls i s r i s i n g .

Research might very p r o f i t a b l y be done on the

e f f e c t o f th e whole C h r i s t i a n f u n d a m e n t a l i s t movement on s c h o o li n g .
I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t th e growth o f C h r i s t i a n s c h o o l s , t o th e e x t e n t
t h a t i t r e f l e c t s a d e s i r e on th e p a r t o f f a m i l i e s t o a c h i e v e a
d i f f e r e n t typ e o f e d u c a t i o n , may be as c r i t i c a l a f a c t o r in th e
d e c l i n e in p u b l i c school e n r o l lm e n t as any d e s i r e o f a f f l u e n t w h it es
to avoid bus ing o r i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls .
The d i f f e r e n c e in t h e r a t e o f e n r o l lm e n t change between non­
c l u s t e r s c h o o ls and th o s e s c h o o ls d e s t i n e d t o become members o f a
c l u s t e r poses a n o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g q u e s t i o n .

The major d i f f e r e n c e

between t h e s e two groups p r i o r t o c l u s t e r i n g was th e n a t u r a l i n t e g r a ­
t i o n o f th e n o n - c l u s t e r s c h o o ls r e f l e c t i n g the i n t e g r a t e d n e i g h b o r ­
hoods they s e r v e and t h e s e g r e g a t i o n , e i t h e r white o r n o n - w h i te , o f
t h e s c h o o ls d e s t i n e d t o become members o f a c l u s t e r .

Do n a t u r a l l y

i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls have a g r e a t e r h o lding power th an s e g r e g a t e d
s c h o o ls ?

What r o l e does t h e n a t u r e o f th e neighborhoods invo lv ed

115

play ?

The i m p l i c a t i o n o f g r e a t e r holding power f o r n a t u r a l l y

i n t e g r a t e d s c h o o ls which r e f l e c t i n t e g r a t e d neighborhoods may m e r i t
a study o f t h e p o s s i b l e s t a b i l i t y t o be ga ined thro ug h th e promotion
o f r a c i a l l y i n t e g r a t e d neighborhoods.
No s i n g l e study co uld hope t o answer a l l o f th e q u e s t i o n s
r e l a t in g to the e f f e c t t h a t the desegregation of a d i s t r i c t ' s
s ch oo ls has on t h e e n r o l lm e n t o f t h a t d i s t r i c t .

This s tu d y was

l i m i t e d t o an e x p l o r a t i o n o f th e s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n s s t a t e d .

An

a tte m p t has been made h e r e , t o i d e n t i f y o t h e r q u e s t i o n s which would
seem to be im p o r t a n t in u n d e r s t a n d in g t h e e f f e c t s o f d e s e g r e g a t i o n
on e n r o l l m e n t change.

The answer t o t h e s e q u e s t i o n s and o t h e r

r e l a t e d q u e s t i o n s could have a s i g n i f i c a n t impact on pla n n in g f o r
desegregation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

116

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armor, David J. White F l i g h t Demographic T r a n s i t i o n , and The Future
o f School D e s e g re g a ti o n . Santa Monica: The Rand Corpora­
t i o n . 1978.
Bose, Lewis C. " A f te r Keyes and Brad ley: The P r a c t i c a l i t i e s . "
C u r r e n t Trends i n School Law. Topeka: The Na tion al Organ­
i z a t i o n on Legal Problems o f Education (1974 ), pp. 186-212.
_________. "Brown v. Board o f Education of Topeka (Brown I ) . "
C u r r e n t Education Law Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 1974): 28-30.
_________. "Brown v. Board o f Education o f Topeka (Brown I I ) . "
C u r r e n t Education Law Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 1974): 31-32.
Campbell, Donald T. and S t a n l e y , J u l i a n C.
Experimental Designs f o r R es e a r c h .
College P u b l i s h i n g Company, 1963.

Experimental and QuasiChicago: Rand McNally

C l o t f e l t e r , Char le s T. "School D e s e g r e g a t i o n , ' T i p p i n g , ' and P r i v a t e
School E n r o l lm e n t." The J o u rn a l o f Human Resources Vol. XI,
No. 1 (Winter 1976): 28-49.
Coleman, James S. " L i b e r t y and E q u a l i t y in School D e s e g r e g a t i o n . "
S ocial P o l i c y Vol. 6 , No. 4 ( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 9-12.
"Cooper v. Aaron."
(March 1974): 32-35.

C u r r e n t Education Law Vol. 4, No. 3

Cusick, P h i l i p A., Gerb ing, David W., and R u s s e l l , E r n e s t L. "The
E f f e c t o f School D es e g re g a tio n and Other F a c t o r s on the
Decline o f t h e White P o p u la t io n in an Urban Environment."
E duc ationa l A d m i n i s t r a t i o n Q u a r t e r l y Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring
1979): 35-49.
_________. Elementary School D es eg reg a ti o n in Lansing: A B r i e f
Summary. Compiled by I n fo r m a tio n S e r v ic e s O f f i c e , Lansing
School D i s t r i c t , August 1977.
F a r l e y , Reynolds. " I s Coleman Right?"
( J a n . / F e b . 1976): 14-23.

117

S o c ia l P o lic y Vol.

6

, No. 4

118

G i l e s , Michael W. "Racial S t a b i l i t y and Urban School D e s e g r e g a ti o n . "
Urban A f f a i r s Q u a r t e r l y Vol. 12, No. 4 (June 1977): 499-510.
G i l e s , Michael W., C a t a l d o , E v e r e t t F . , G r a t l i n , Douglas S.
" D es egre gation and t h e P r i v a t e School A l t e r n a t i v e . "
on School D e s e g re g a tio n (August 1975), pp. 21-31.
_________. "Green v. County School Board o f Kent County."
Education Law Vol. 4, No. 4 (April 1973): 35-36.

Symposium
Current

Green, Robert L. and P e t t i g r e w , Thomas F. " P u b l i c School Desegrega­
t i o n and White F l i g h t : A Reply t o P r o f e s s o r Coleman."
Prepared f o r t h e C i v i l Righ ts Commission, Washington, D.C.
(Unpublished r e p o r t ) , December 1975.
Hudgins, H.C. J r .
"Brown and P ublic School S e g r e g a t i o n : 25 Years
Ago." NOLPE School Law Journ al Vol. 8 , No. 2 (1979): 116126.
_________. " I n t e r - D i s t r i c t Busing f o r I n t e g r a t i o n . " C u r r e n t Educa­
t i o n Law Vol. 3, No. 8 (November 1973): 226-231.
League o f Women V oters. School D e s eg reg a ti o n . D e t r o i t : League o f
Women Voters in th e D e t r o i t M e t r o p o l i t a n Area, December 1972.
Le vine , Daniel V. and Meyer, J e a n i e Keeny. "Level and Rate of
D es eg reg a tio n and White Enrollment D ec line in a Big Ci ty
School D i s t r i c t . " S o c ia l Problems Vol. 24, No. 4 (April
1977): 451-462.
McCarthy, Martha M. and Webb, L. Dean. " I n t r a - D i s t r i c t Des eg re gati on
Remedies." NOLPE School Law J o u r n a l Vol. 8 , No. 2 (1979):
127-144.
Munford, L ut her .
"Schools That Quit Tipping in M i s s i s s i p p i . "
Symposium on School D es egre ga ti on (August, 1975), pp. 33-42.
Nie, Norman H . , e t a l . S t a t i s t i c a l Package f o r th e Social S c ie n c e s .
Second e d i t i o n .
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975.
O r f i e l d , Gary.
(No T i t l e )
1976): 24-29.

Soc ial P o l i c y Vol.

6

, No. 4 , ( J a n . / F e b .

_________ . "White F l i g h t Res earch, I t s Im po rtan ce , P e r p l e x i t i e s , and
P o s s i b l e P o l i c y I m p l i c a t i o n s . " Symposium on School Desegre­
g a t i o n (August 1975), pp. 44-68.
R o s s e l l , C h r i s t i n e H. "Boston D es eg reg a ti o n and White F l i g h t . "
I n t e g r a t e d Education Vol. 15 ( J a n . / F e b . 1977): 36-39.

119

_________. "School Des egre ga tion and White F l i g h t . " P o l i t i c a l
S cien ce Q u a r t e r l y Vol. 90, No. 4 (Winter 1976-77): 675-695.
R u s s e l l , E r n e s t L.
"A Study o f Changes and C o n f l i c t in Court Ordered
Busing as a Means o f School D eseg re ga tion in an Urban C ity
School D i s t r i c t . " Doctoral D i s s e r t a t i o n , Michigan S t a t e
U n i v e r s i t y , 1978.
Simpson, Robert J .
"Brown I: The H i s t o r i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e . "
School Law J o u rn al V ol. 8 , No. 2 (1979): 107-115.

NOLPE

_________. "D es eg reg ati o n Since Swann and Keyes." C u r r e n t Trends in
School Law. Topeka: The National O r g a n i z a t i o n
on Legal
Problems o f Education (1973), pp. 173-185.
U.S. Commission on C iv il R ig h ts . D es egre ga tion o f t h e N a t i o n ' s
P u b li c Schools: A S t a t u s R e p o r t. Washington, U.S. Govern­
ment P r i n t i n g O f f i c e , 1979.
Weaver, Robert C. "The S u b u r b a n iz a tio n o f America." School
D e s eg reg a ti o n : The Courts and Suburban M i g r a t i o n . A
c o n s u l t a t i o n sponsored by th e U.S. Commission on C i v i l Rig hts .
Washington, D.C., December 8 , 1975.

AP PENDI CES

120

APPENDIX A
CLUSTER GROUPS

121

APPENDI X A

CLUSTER GROUPS
C l u s t e r Group One (1972)
C l u s t e r One

C l u s t e r Two

Barnes
Elmhurst
Lewton
Main

Cavanaugh
Everett
Maple Hill
Riddle
C l u s t e r Group Two (1973)
C l u s t e r Three
Cedar
Grand River
High
P o s t Oak
C l u s t e r Group Three (1976)

C l u s t e r Four
Genesee
G u n n i s o n v il l e

C l u s t e r Five
Horsebrook
Va lley Farms
Willow

C l u s t e r Six
A llen
Fairview
Holmes
Mt. Hope

Non- Cluster Group
Attwood
Averill
Bingham
Cumberland
F o r e s t View
Foster
Franks
G ie r Park

Lyons
Maple Grove
Maplewood
Moores Park
North
Northwestern
P l e a s a n t Grove
P l e a s a n t View

122

Reo
Sheridan Road
Verlinden
Wainwright
Walnut
Wexford
Woodcreek

A PPENDI X B

MAP OF THE LANSING SCHOOL D I S T R I C T

123

APPENDI X B
MAP OF THE LANSING SCHOOL D I S T R I C T

C L A R K HD

STOLL Ita .

statc

C0'
CO.

m iH A M

* a

s m c p iio a n

■-

pro

ELEMENTARY BUILDINGS

70
AVERILL
B arnes
BEEkman
BINGHAM

CAVANAJGH
CEDAR
CUMBERLAND
ELMH j R S I

FOREST ROAQ
cnactY uic «
FOREST V IE *
FOSTER
FRANKS
GENESEE
GIER PARK
GRAND RIVER
GJNNIS0NV1LLE
HIGH
HOLMES
H0RSEBR00K
KENDON
LE a ION
LYONS
MAIN
MAPLE GROVE
MAPLE H ILL
MAPLENOOO
MOORES PARK
MOUNT HOPE
NORTH
NORTHWESTERN
OAK PARC
PLEASANT GROVE
PLEASANT V ILA
POST OAK
REO
RlOOLC
SHERIDAN ROAD
VALLEY FARMS
VER llN O tN

A^A»12
S A 6 IN A W

M T. HO PC

©
©

i:l
I.'
t\
L -:
C -'
F .:
6 -i
F.
HEKJ .!
HlJ -:
I.1
I.
I-1
L«'
J.
GJ.
K.
F.
>~

■ a in n r ic h T
AALNJT

©

MEIFORD
MILLON
MOODCREEK

H O LM ES RO.

JUNIOR HIGH 6UIL0INCS

©
SENIOR HIGH BJIIO IN G S

JO LLY HO.

OJ

©

©

©

©

^ASTERN
VERE IT
SEXTON

187 EDUCATION CTR.
135 SERVICE CENTER
1*5 PUBLIC LIBRARY

/
124

A PPE NDI X C

LOCATION OF CLUSTER AND NON-CLUSTER
SCHOOLS

125

APPENDIX C
LOCATION OF CLUSTER AND NON-CLUSTER SCHOOLS
C l u s t e r Schools Shown by C l u s t e r Number, N on- Cluster Schools by X

♦26

126