Camilla Forte, Author at The Hechinger Report

School Segregation: A visual timeline

Camilla Forte — Tue, 14 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Images depicting these events may contain themes or terms that do not reflect current acceptable language. The Hechinger Report edited the original captions for clarity and style.

1954: The Supreme Court rules that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools violates the 14th Amendment in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The decision overturns the Court’s 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education consolidates lawsuits filed in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kansas, South Carolina and Virginia in response to school segregation. Credit: National Archives Foundation

The auditorium of Morton High school (left) a school for Black students and the auditorium of Farmville High School (right) a school for white students. These images were filed as evidence by the plaintiffs of Dorothy E. Davis, et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, one of the cases consolidated with Brown v. Board of Education. Credit: National Archives Foundation

1955: A year after the Supreme Court’s Brown I decision that segregated schools are inherently unequal, little had changed. In Brown II, the court considered how its decision should be implemented. It did not set a deadline for schools to desegregate, requiring only that they do so “with all deliberate speed.”

Credit: Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Students chat while waiting for a history lesson to begin at Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Sept. 20, 1955. Previously an all-white institution, the school was desegregated by order of the Atomic Energy Commission, which administered the affairs of the community. Credit: Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images

1956: The University of Alabama admits Autherine Lucy, its first Black student. She was met with violence from white supremacist groups and widespread protests from white students.

University of Alabama students demonstrate on the Tuscaloosa campus following the recent admittance of its first Black student, Autherine Lucy. The demonstration drew hundreds of participants. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

Autherine Lucy, center, the first Black student to attend the University of Alabama, discusses her return to campus following mob demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 7, 1956. Credit: Gene Herrick/Associated Press

1957: Federal and state powers clash over the admittance of nine black students to Little Rock Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Arkansas National Guardsmen Carl Cobb, left, and D.D. Evans, right, stand guard at one of the entrances to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Gov. Orval Faubus’ activation of the troops led the school board to postpone scheduled racial integration on Sept. 3, 1957. Credit: Associated Press

Elizabeth Eckford, center, ignores the hostile screams and stares of fellow students on her first day of school, Sept. 6, 1957. She was one of the nine Black students whose admission to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., was ordered by a federal court following legal action by the NAACP. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

1958: Thousands of young people take part in the “Youth March for Integrated Schools” in Washington, D.C.

Credit: Getty Images

More than 15,000 people – white and Black – march down Madison Drive to the Washington Monument, as part of an NAACP rally calling for the integration of schools, in Washington, D.C. Credit: Getty Images

A crowd outside the state capitol in Little Rock, Ark., protests the integration of Central High School on Aug. 20, 1959. Credit: Circa Images/GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

1960: First graders Ruby Bridges, Gail St. Etienne, Leona Tate and Tessie Prevost integrate schools in New Orleans.

Deputy U.S. marshals escort Ruby Bridges, 6, from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans on Nov. 14, 1960. The first grader was the only Black child enrolled in the school. The parents of white students boycotted the court-ordered integration and took their children out of school. Credit: Associated Press

Lee Hooks and other white housewives demonstrate against planned desegregation at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans on Dec. 2, 1960. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

1961-1963: Attempts to integrate Southern colleges by federal order are met with riots and violence.

Black students Charlayne Hunter, center, and Hamilton Holmes, right, after being suspended from the University of Georgia. Credit: Donald Uhrbrock/Getty Images

Rioters stand outside the University of Georgia the day Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes integrated the university. Hunter was evacuated from her Myers Hall dormitory to Atlanta after police used tear gas to disperse rioting students on Jan. 11, 1961. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

Gov. George Wallace attempts to block integration at the University of Alabama. He is confronted by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Credit: Buyenlarge/Getty Images

Credit: OFF/AFP via Getty Images

Vivian Malone and James Hood, two Black students, register at the University of Alabama on June 12, 1963, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after a federal court barred state government interference with their enrollment. Despite this order, Gov. George Wallace appointed himself the temporary university registrar and stood in the doorway of the administration building to prevent the students from registering. In response, President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard. Some 100 guardsmen escorted the students to campus. The guards’ commander, Gen. Henry Graham, ordered Wallace to “step aside.” Credit: OFF/AFP via Getty Images

1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed. The law, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, includes clauses outlawing segregation and denying federal funds to schools and academic programs that discriminate.

President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes the hand of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the signing of the Civil Rights Act while officials look on in Washington, D.C. Credit: Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

People protesting integration carry placards reading “Kill the Bill” and “Vote for Wallace,” in support of Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1964. Wallace was a proponent of segregation and strongly opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial discrimination. Credit: FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images

1971: In Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Supreme Court approves busing, magnet schools and compensatory education as acceptable tools to speed up the process of integration.

Credit: Associated Press

Police escort school buses on Sept. 16, 1974, from the Gavin School in South Boston on the third day of court-ordered busing to integrate Boston’s public schools. Credit: Associated Press

Chinatown residents protest against integration in favor of neighborhood schools at a San Francisco school board meeting about busing on June 12, 1974. Credit: Vince Maggiora/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

1978: The Supreme Court rules in favor of Allan Bakke, a white student who alleges he was discriminated against, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.

Allan Bakke is trailed by news and television reporters after attending his first day at the Medical School of the University of California, Davis, on Sept. 25, 1978. Bakke sued the university for reverse discrimination after his applications were rejected in 1973 and 1974. The Supreme Court ordered the university to admit Bakke, deciding that the school had illegally discriminated against him because he is white. Credit: Associated Press/Walt Zeboski

2003: The Supreme Court rules in favor of affirmative action in college admissions with its decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.

Supporters of affirmative action, Candyce Phoenix, 18, left, and Aaron Nelson, 20, from Washington, D.C., rally in front of the Supreme Court after the ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed the use of affirmative action in college admissions on June 23, 2003. Credit: Associated Press/Charles Dharapak

2023: The Supreme Court rules that the consideration of race in college admissions is unconstitutional, adjudicating two cases simultaneously: Students for Fair Admissions v. The University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College.

People with the Asian American Coalition for Education rally outside the Supreme Court on June 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C. In a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unconstitutional, establishing a new precedent that could end affirmative action in college admissions at schools that receive federal funding. Credit: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Kashish Bastola, a rising sophomore at Harvard, hugs Nahla Owens, a fellow Harvard student, outside the Supreme Court on June 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Credit: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

This story about school segregation was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

The post School Segregation: A visual timeline appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

2021: Year in pictures

Camilla Forte — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

The first year of the Covid-19 pandemic was devastating: classrooms emptied, dorms shuttered, livelihoods shattered, millions of lives lost.

Then came 2021. “No matter who I talk to, they tell me: ‘This is the hardest year that I’ve ever had in education,’” one school leader told The Hechinger Report this fall.

The gaps between children with more and children with less cracked wider. Trauma, depression and anxiety among caregivers, teachers and students spiked. The financial burden of college became too much for too many students. The virus ravaged families and left behind hundreds of thousands of orphans. Climate change fueled fires, hurricanes and floods, sowing more chaos and disruption.

The Hechinger Report’s stories investigated the growing inequities, the deepening crises, the frustration and the divisions that made problems harder to solve. We also reported on the tenacity, creativity and hope that kept people going even in their worst moments. The following pictures capture the tragedy and resilience that marked 2021.

January

Debrin Adon, a senior at the University Park Campus School in Worcester, Massachusetts. His male classmates “don’t think they’re smart enough” for college, Adon says. “They doubt themselves a little bit because of their life and what they’ve been through and what they’ve been seen as.” Kate Flock for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: The pandemic is speeding up the mass disappearance of men from college

Berta Romero is a counselor for English learners at Mary Harris Mother Jones Elementary school in Prince George’s County, Maryland. It’s a new position that was created before the pandemic, to help undocumented children. She says many have been through very traumatic situations. “Having those flashbacks all the time and living with that is not easy. It’s not easy.” Tyrone Turner for WAMU

READ THE STORY:‘Backpacks full of boulders’: How one district is addressing the trauma undocumented children bring to school

February

A math teacher at Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix teaching online in an empty classroom. Phoenix Union High School District Credit: Phoenix Union High School District

READ THE STORY: How much will it take to reopen, catch up kids and save public schooling long term?

Black youth and Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County lead a silent march of an estimated 60,000 people in June to show support for Black lives. Later that month, the Seattle school board voted to remove police officers from its schools. Neal Morton/The Hechinger Report Credit: Neal Morton/The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: If schools don’t overhaul discipline, ‘teachers will still be calling the police on our Black students’

Sol Forest School students play a game that looks like follow-the-leader in February 2021. Interest in outdoor schools like Sol has spiked since Covid-19 hit the United States last year. Adria Malcolm for The Hechinger Report Credit: Adria Malcolm for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Outdoor preschools grow in popularity but most serve middle-class white kids

March

First grader Nevaeh Korsmo reaches for hand sanitizer while doing an online lesson at the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe learning center in Port Angeles. Amanda Snyder / The Seattle Times Credit: Amanda Snyder / The Seattle Times

READ THE STORY: To serve kids in the pandemic, a tribe and a Washington school district create a unique learning space

Nursing students at Sacred Heart University. The university has added certificate programs to teach people to be radiographers and CT, ultrasound, MRI and mammography technicians, who are in high demand. Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report Credit: Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Beer making for credit: Liberal arts colleges add career tech

April

After a day of teaching kindergarten, Shari Daniels encourages her athletes as they run drills during volleyball practice. Erik Petersen for The Hechinger Report Credit: Erik Petersen for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Rural schools have a teacher shortage. Why don’t people who live there, teach there?

Ciera Pritchett and her children Isaiah, 10, and Genesis, 9. Home of Hope provides activities and programming for children while parents attend classes on financial literacy and independent living. Matt Odom/NBC Credit: Matt Odom/NBC

READ THE STORY: A solution to the cycle of poverty?

Faculty and supporters from universities around the state outside the Hilton C. Buley Library at Southern Connecticut State University protesting a contract proposal that includes an increase in teaching loads. Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report Credit: Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Some universities’ response to budget woes: Making faculty teach more courses

May

Freedom Brown-Faulk (white mask) is hugging Alyvia Davis in front of West Middle School on April 28. Credit: Kayana Szymczak for The Undefeated

READ THE STORY: As a district re-opens, one middle schooler returned to school and another remained home

Anne Fletcher, an adjunct professor in the English department at Austin Community College, works at her dining room table. During the pandemic she has had to be more persistent than ever about keeping in touch with her students. Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Troubled by students she’s not reaching — ‘that no one is reaching’

June

Stephanie Presley, program lead for the Seward-Bear Creek Flood Service Area, points at a map of Seward and the location of Seward’s schools, which sit near Japanese Creek in Seward, Alaska. Young Kim for The Hechinger Report Credit: Young Kim for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Climate change threatens America’s ragged school infrastructure

Alex Harris is among the millions of students who can’t obtain their academic transcripts from colleges to which they still owe money — making it harder for them to get the jobs they need to pay it back. “It’s crazy,” Harris says. Meredith Nierman/GBH News Credit: Meredith Nierman/GBH News

READ THE STORY: Colleges fight attempts to stop them from withholding transcripts over unpaid bills

Eighteen-year-old Nyché Andrew sits with other members of the class of 2021 at her socially distanced, outdoor graduation in Anchorage. Brian Adams for The Hechinger Report Credit: Brian Adams for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Schools bar Native students from wearing traditional regalia at graduation

July

Bilingual teacher Veronica Alvarado leans over Ayden Nava Zamora, 6, to help him print out the names of sea animals, like dolphin, in Spanish (delfín), during a dual-language summer program at Lot Whitcomb Elementary School in Milwaukie, Ore. Lillian Mongeau/The Hechinger Report Credit: Lillian Mongeau/The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Summer school programs race to help students most in danger of falling behind

For Maggie Anderson, a part-time job teaching Spanish at central Montana’s Greenfield School blossomed into a full-time post as a grade 6 teacher. But even obtaining a provisional license proved significantly challenging, resulting in an accreditation deficiency for Greenfield in 2020. Erik Petersen for The Hechinger Report Credit: Erik Petersen for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Teacher licensing rules are one reason small schools don’t have enough teachers

All of Lincoln Park School’s buses are outfitted with infant car seats so that girls can get to school with their babies, who attend the school’s free daycare. Emily Kaplan for The Hechinger Report Credit: Emily Kaplan for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Child care, car seats and other simple ways to keep teen moms in school

August

One of Sadie Perry’s grandsons stands in front of a utility pole that reaches only one of the houses on their property, though not Perry’s home; an additional pole would cost the family $5,000. Kelli Johansen for The Hechinger Report Credit: Kelli Johansen for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Rural areas have been slow to connect to broadband. More public funding could speed things up

Katie Humphrey, the seventh grade counselor at Columbia Middle School, tries to normalize the idea of asking for mental health support to both children and parents. “I tell our students, it’s like tutoring,” she says. “If you need help in math, you go get a tutor. You go to your teacher for help. We’re kind of your tutors for mental health.” Sara Hertwig for The Hechinger Report Credit: Sara Hertwig for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: When kids pick their ‘trusted adult,’ it pays off

Increased absences and substitute shortages meant administrators often filled in to teach classes or cover recess duty during the 2020-21 school year. Cheryl Gerber for The Hechinger Report Credit: Cheryl Gerber for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: A principal leaves his beloved school after an intense year

Monalie Bohannon’s mother tries on a shawl that is a family heirloom before her daughter’s graduation from Hamilton High School. Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Leaving a reservation for college, but also staying close to home

September

On a sticky 86-degree June day in Detroit, Maybury Elementary School’s sunbaked windows stand open in the occupied classrooms in the non-air-conditioned building. The 112-year-old school hasn’t been renovated in generations, and, according to district estimates, will require $5.6 million in restoration. Elaine Cromie for The Hechinger Report Credit: Elaine Cromie for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Federal money is the only hope for school districts that can’t raise local funds for facilities

Cante Skuya Lonehill-Stover, who is Oglala Lakota, compares photos of herself and her father as they each headed off to college. Arlo Iron Cloud for The Hechinger Report Credit: Arlo Iron Cloud for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: 3 Native American women head to college in the pandemic. Will they get a sophomore year?

Cpl. Israel Vicencio, Air Force Reserve medical technician Joy Maina and Danbi Kim work together in a lab for chemistry class at Pierce College at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The military has restricted or attempted to reduce funding for education for active-duty service members. Katie G. Cotterill for The Hechinger Report Credit: . Katie G. Cotterill for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Getting educated while on active duty is getting harder as military rolls back benefits

Amanda Belony of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sued by the state attorney general’s office for $3,705 for classes she said she never took; traveling to Albany to appear in court would have been expensive and, she feared, could have jeopardized her job. Without a degree, she had to work low-wage jobs to pay off the settlement of $2,900, which she was finally able to do in 2019. Thalia Juarez for The New York Times Credit: Thalia Juarez for The New York Times

READ THE STORY: Why does New York state sue its college students?

October

Contreras with children in Gummy Bears’ new location. Noah Willman for The Hechinger Report Credit: Noah Willman for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: The racist and sexist roots of child care in America explain why the system is in shambles

Teacher Hope Bell leads her class of 3-year-olds in a breathing exercise at the beginning of circle time. Bell uses an approach called Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) to build trust-based relationships with children, which can help mitigate the impact of trauma. Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: We know how to help young kids cope with the trauma of the last year — but will we do it?

Nikki Musser, an education assistant, monitors first graders attending class at Witch Hazel Elementary remotely. The school operated on a hybrid schedule last year. “Everyone here is just trying to do the best they can,” she said. Lillian Mongeau for The Hechinger Report Credit: Lillian Mongeau for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Why 2021 could be the start of a radical change in how Washington influences local schools

Sheila Matthews, the operations director at Open Door Preschools, plays with Kennedy Garris, an infant, on the playground at one of the school’s locations in Austin, Texas. “It’s really said that it took the pandemic to make them go ‘oh yeah, we do need those teachers and they’re professionals, they’re just not babysitters,’” Matthews said. Jackie Mader for The Hechinger Report Credit: Jackie Mader for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: Vaccine mandates could make it harder to find child care workers

Adamalis Vigil, 33, watches as her daughter Adelyn, 13, prepares for her birthday party. As a parent, feeling like she cannot protect her child from anti-trans laws and rhetoric is “the worst feeling ever,” Vigil said. Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Hechinger Report Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: ‘Just let me play sports’

November

Students practice reading using whisper phones during center time in their first grade classroom. Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:‘The Reading Year’: First grade is critical for reading skills, but kids coming from disrupted kindergarten experiences are way behind

Taos Municipal Schools collaborated with community partners, like Prisca Winslow, who led a movement group, to offer a range of sessions focused on developing staff members’ social-emotional learning. Kelli Johansen for The Hechinger Report Credit: Kelli Johansen for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: With teacher wellness “hanging by a thread,” one district tries walking and smoothies

Students and staff share space in the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, one of several largely unnoticed new higher education institutions popping up around the country. Molly Haley for The Hechinger Report Credit: Molly Haley for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY: As enrollment falls and colleges close, a surprising number of new ones are opening

Amanda Amtmanis, the PE instructor at Macdonough Elementary, hands a fifth grader a card with a QR code for tracking her mileage. Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report Credit: Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:How PE teachers are tackling ‘physical learning loss’

Instructor Penni Barbeau of Southern Maine Community College teaches Vanessa Moody how to weld, one of the skills she’s learning in the hope of getting a job with good pay, benefits and a pension at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard. Molly Haley for The Hechinger Report Credit: Molly Haley for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:A surprise for America’s many career switchers: They need to go back to school

December

Ernesto Rubio waits for a bus on his way home from Rio Hondo College. Without the free bus pass the college provided this fall, he says, he wouldn’t have been able to continue his education. James Bernal for The Hechinger Report Credit: James Bernal for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:A surprising reason keeping students from finishing college: A lack of transportation

Therese Arvisu, an English teacher in the Phoenix Union High School district, leads a Chicano literature class she developed with fellow teachers. “That was the first time, in a professional setting, where we were able to talk about the literature that we grew up with, that had a lot to do with our identity and our love of literature,” she recalled. Brandon Sullivan for The Hechinger Report Credit: Brandon Sullivan for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:To increase and maintain teacher diversity, listen to teachers of color

Erica Cisneros’ child care program in Pueblo, Colorado. For more than a decade, Cisneros only made enough money to cover her basic needs. Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:A little-known program could be a model for how to spend billions in federal money on childcare

Lisa Grant, superintendent for the Centralia school district, makes her monthly rounds in a fifth grade class at Fords Prairie Elementary School. The school district welcomed all elementary students back for in-person learning in early December. Katie Cotterill for The Hechinger Report Credit: Katie Cotterill for The Hechinger Report

READ THE STORY:A year in the life of a small-town superintendent shows the federal bailout won’t be enough

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