Technical Assistance for (Race-Neutral) Student Assignment: The Case of San Francisco

• In Event: Race, Equity, and the Courts

Abstract

The 2007 Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle (PICS) Supreme Court decision has created new challenges for school district administrators looking to actively reduce racial segregation between schools in their district. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education initiated the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans (TASAP) grant program to support the development of PICS compliant student assignment plans to reduce segregation. This study looks at one recipient of a TASAP grant, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), examining the legal history of the SFUSD’s struggle to combat segregation, how they have used the TASAP funding, and what have been the initial results in the first three years of their revised student assignment plan.

Authors

• Michael W Flaherty, The Pennsylvania State University

• Kelly Griffith, The Pennsylvania State University

• Lyn Rainelle Peterson, The Pennsylvania State University

• Julie Rowland, The Pennsylvania State University