District Consolidation, Tracking, and Educational Equity: Lessons From the Woodland Hills School District

• In Event: The Elusive Battle for Educational Equity in Pennsylvania: 40 Years of Changes and Challenges

Abstract

Purpose: This case study of the Woodland Hills School District, just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, examines the district’s long history of court-ordered desegregation and provides an update on its current, post-unitary status.

Perspective: In 1963, the state legislature passed Act 299, requiring small districts to merge for cost savings. Predominantly white districts in eastern Pittsburgh arranged to merge with each other or remain independent, while three predominantly minority districts were ordered to merge with each other into the General Braddock Area School District. As a remedy to equalize funding and desegregate schools, the court ordered a merged district, henceforth known as "Woodland Hills" (Hoots v. Pennsylvania, 1982). Subsequent litigation ordered detracking in the district curriculum, persisting until the district was declared fully unitary in 2003.

Methods and Data Sources: This case study uses the methods of qualitative document analysis. Historical sources include unpublished dissertations (e.g., Lundin, 1973) and all iterations of Hoots v. Pennsylvania from 1971 to 2003. The study also draws on the scholarly literature related to the detracking order (e.g., Welner. 1997; 2001). Sources related to the post-unitary status of the district include reports on changing demographics in the Pittsburgh region (e.g., Orfield, 1999), newspaper articles, district curriculum guides, school board minutes, state test scores, Office of Civil Rights data, and census data.

Findings: All gains in equity in the Woodland Hills School District were the direct result of court action—from the merged district itself to the court-mandated elimination of curricular tracking. However, the Woodland Hills district also demonstrates how power and privilege tend to re-emerge when equity-oriented policies end. The district struggles today with a disproportionate number of African American students in the lower track, declining white enrollment, and the growth of charter schools within the district.

Significance: This district offers important lessons for using district consolidation as a tool to manage racial balance between districts, as well as the importance of addressing tracking, or "second generation segregation," within schools. Specifically, district consolidation can be used as a tool to equalize funding and educational opportunities, and courts can facilitate such action. Thus, this case study suggests potential remedies for de facto segregation in many northern states, as well as cautions about the limitations of consolidation policy.

Author

• Emily Hodge, The Pennsylvania State University