[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 101 (Friday, July 16, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1582-E1584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ST. LOUIS A SCHOOL DESEGREGATION SUCCESS STORY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 16, 1999

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, May 17, 1999, marked the 45th anniversary of 
the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education 
holding racial segregation laws and practices unconstitutional and 
ushering in the civil rights era. Last month the Harvard Civil Rights 
Project published a report showing that the nation is now moving 
backwards toward re-segregation of public schools.
  I want to call the attention of my colleagues to the remarkable story 
of desegregation in St. Louis. St. Louis illustrates the gains that can 
be made for children even in these times. In St. Louis, a 1983 
settlement of a desegregation case brought by the NAACP resulted in the 
largest voluntary metropolitan school desegregation program in the 
nation, with 13,000 black students from St. Louis attending school in 
16 suburban districts. The program was very successful in increasing 
the graduation and college-going rates of participating youngsters as 
was a magnet program in city schools.
  When the State sought to end its financing of the remedy in the early 
1990's many feared that the opportunities that had been afforded 
children would end as had happened elsewhere. But an extraordinary 
thing happened. The Missouri State legislature voted funds sufficient 
to continue the programs--including as well as major program for school 
improvements in St. Louis--for at least ten more years. The legislature 
insisted that the city of St. Louis contribute financially by raising 
its sales and property taxes. Many feared that this would not occur. 
But in February of this year the voters approved a sales tax increased 
by an almost 2-1 margin--and every Ward in the City--Black and White--
voted for the tax increase.
  Many people in Missouri worked hard to achieve this remarkable 
result. Special thanks are due to William H. Danforth, the Court-
appointed settlement coordinator, who recognized that continuing a 
valuable remedy was not inconsistent with ending court supervision. 
James De Clue, the NAACP leader and Minnie Liddell, the community 
leader, toiled over twenty five years to advance the interests of 
children, they are the true heroes of this story. Legislative 
leadership was exercised by then-Representative Steve Stoll along with 
Senators Ted House, Lacy Clay and Harold Caskey. My colleague 
Congressman Richard Gephardt also helped assure that St. Louisans 
understood the importance of passing the referendum while business and 
religious leaders pitched in and lent their support.
  Mr. Speaker, we must not give up on the promise of Brown v. Board of 
Education. The St. Louis story provides a model for other communities. 
I would like to share with my colleagues some articles that detail the 
success of St. Louis' school desegregation program.

            [From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 7, 1999]

              Settlement is Reached in Desegregation Case

                   (By Rick Pierce and Carolyn Bower)

       The clock on the library wall at Yeatman Middle School in 
     St. Louis said 15 minutes after 2 p.m.
       Dozens of lawyers, school superintendents, school board 
     members and settlement coordinator Dr. William H. Danforth 
     were waiting to announce an agreement to settle the area's 
     school desegregation case.
       A lawyer turned to another lawyer and asked, ``Everyone 
     important seems to be here. Who are we waiting for?''
       Moments later, Minnie Liddell, regal in a flowing red 
     blouse and slacks and moving slowly with the aid of a four-
     pronged metal cane, entered the library.
       Knots of people parted to let her through. Some hugged her.
       Twenty-seven years ago, when school officials tried to 
     transfer her son, Craton, and other students, out of Yeatman 
     School--a school the Liddell family had fallen in love with--
     she and other parents sued the St. Louis School Board.
       Now Liddell, 59, who has three grandchildren in St. Louis 
     schools, watched as Danforth announced the settlement, 
     something many had predicted was impossible.
       ``There has been an agreement to settle the case,'' said 
     Danforth, adding that the agreement would be presented to 
     U.S. District

[[Page E1583]]

     Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. ``This is a historic occasion 
     for St. Louis.``
       Danforth said many people had told him it was impossible to 
     settle a suit with more than 20 parties.
       ``It did take time. I never had any idea how complicated 
     the legal issues were,'' he said. ``What we all wanted was to 
     provide children with a first-class education and the 
     opportunity for choice. We all wanted the voluntary transfer 
     program to continue with this settlement.''
       After Danforth spoke, Liddell said with obvious emotion: 
     ``All I can say is, `Yay, St. Louis`` This has been a long 
     time coming, yet we have just begun. I'm glad I lived to see 
     a settlement in the case.''
       Liddell suffered a stroke a couple years ago and suffers 
     from numerous health problems.
       The settlement still needs approval of area school boards. 
     Besides St. Louis, 16 St. Louis County districts were parties 
     in the suit.
       Clayton and Parkway school boards were expected to meet in 
     closed sessions Wednesday night to discuss the settlement. 
     The Rockwood School Board might consider the agreement 
     tonight. The St. Louis School Board already has approved the 
     agreement.
       Other parties might agree with Liddell. Until the end, the 
     deal to settle the St. Louis desegregation case was in danger 
     of breaking apart.
       Until the deal was notched around noon Wednesday, anything 
     was possible, said the attorneys involved in the case. The 
     talks had become more frequent, and often ran late, in the 
     past two weeks while students were on holiday break.
       The talks New Year's Eve lasted until 8 p.m.
       On Monday and Tuesday, attorneys and officials representing 
     the more than 20 parties in the case met from before noon to 
     past midnight at the downtown offices of Bryan Cave, a law 
     firm in St. Louis. Tuesday's schedule followed suit.
       As the clock continued to tick past the self-imposed, end-
     of-the-year deadline, tempers flared.
       ``We were dealing with difficult issues and people got 
     tired,'' said Douglas Copeland, an attorney who represents 
     the Webster Groves and Valley Park school districts. ``No one 
     ever came to blows.''
       The attorneys and others involved in the talks have 
     declined to discuss specifics because they were muzzled by a 
     federal judge. But two key issues that remained unresolved 
     until the end were the county districts' concerns over the 
     terms of the busing program and the city district's concerns 
     over how much it would get for new schools when the students 
     returned.
       Ken Brostron, the St. Louis School Board's attorney, said a 
     deal wasn't worked out on how much money the city would get 
     for new schools until Tuesday evening. That figure is $180 
     million.
       The county districts' concerns over the busing plan, 
     especially over how long they would have to commit to it and 
     who would pay for it, weren't resolved until Wednesday 
     morning. County superintendents had hoped that the state 
     would pay for transportation for students to finish in the 
     schools they attend.
       The problem was finding enough state money. County 
     superintendents insisted that no local tax money would be 
     used to pay for the education or transportation of transfer 
     students--which the county districts got. Although issues 
     related to St. Louis were resolved by Tuesday, county 
     superintendents did not reach an agreement until shortly 
     before noon Wednesday.
       Then they drove through snow-lined streets to Yeatman, 
     where the case had begun decades ago.

                               __________
                               

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                            Percent of
                                                          City-to-County  County-to-City   Total student       black        Percent of      Percent of
                     School District                        enrollment      enrollment      enrollment    students, 1982- black students  City-to-County
                                                                                                                83             1998         enrollment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affton..................................................             369              73           2,657             1.6           15.43            13.8
Bayless.................................................             171              53           1,395             0.1           13.26            12.3
Brentwood...............................................             214              15             924            23.9           27.16            23.1
Clayton.................................................             479               7           2,404             6.0           21.96            19.9
Ferg.-Flor..............................................               0              58          11,368         \1\40.5           55.85               0
Hancock.................................................             365              95           1,660             3.0           23,31            21.9
Hazelwood...............................................               4             121          18,315            17.4            43.2               0
Kirkwood................................................             691              31           5,061            19.3           25.07            13.6
Ladue...................................................             444              11           3,406            15.6           25.63            13.0
Lindbergh...............................................           1,030              58           5,205             1.6           20.79            19.7
Maple-Rich. Hts.........................................               0             216           1,115             \1\           \2\41               0
Mehlville...............................................           1,411             124          11,694             .03            13.8            12.0
Parkway.................................................           3,085              86          20,783             2.5           17.83            14.8
Pattonville.............................................           1,058              44           7,027             5.3           27.44            15.0
Ritenour................................................             145             254           6,629            14.5            28.2             2.2
Riv. Gardens............................................               0               1           6,850             \1\           \2\81               0
Rockwood................................................           2,661              33          20,706              .9           14.23            12.9
Valley Park.............................................             229              12             989              .4           28.41            23.1
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webster Groves..........................................             497              59           4,163            19.9           26.98            11.9
    Total/Average.......................................          12,853           1,351         132,251              na              na            9.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: City-to-County and County-to-City Enrollment as of 11/4/98, Voluntary Interdistrict Coordinating Council.
Total Student Enrollment as of 9/30/98, Provided by Districts.
\1\ Non-white population.
\2\ 1997 date.
\3\ Not available.


           [From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 28, 1999]

                A Better Settlement Than Anyone Else Got

               (By James A De Clue and William L. Taylor)


        State funding could terminate in the foreseeable future

       When citizens of St. Louis vote next week on the tax 
     referendum, they will have a unique opportunity to invest in 
     the future of their city and its children.
       In many communities around the nation, courts are declaring 
     an end to judicially supervised school desegregation and to 
     the mandated subsidies for improved education that are often 
     part of the remedy. But in St. Louis, the state Legislature 
     has offered a financial package that will enable educational 
     opportunity programs to continue for 10 years or more.
       Both from a financial and an educational standpoint, the 
     St. Louis settlement is the best of any school district in 
     the nation. The state funding will make possible continuation 
     of the voluntary interdistrict transfer program and the city 
     magnet program. Both of these programs have enabled African-
     American city students to complete high school and go on to 
     college at far greater rates than they have in the past.
       The $45 million in state funding that will come to the city 
     if the referendum is approved will not only maintain the 
     magnets but improve educational opportunity in all of the 
     city's schools.
       For teachers, the funds will mean new opportunities for 
     professional development and a better environment in the 
     classroom. Part of the reason is new investments in preschool 
     and in all-day kindergartens along with early-grade reading 
     programs like Success for All that have proved effective in 
     many American schools.
       These initiatives will mean that children will emerge from 
     the early grades with the skills they need and that schools 
     will be able to avoid the Hobson's choice between social 
     promotion and retention.
       For parents, the agreement contains perhaps the most 
     comprehensive set of reform measures adopted in any 
     litigation. This includes tough performance standards that 
     require schools to show year-by-year progress in students'
       It also calls for substantial assistance to schools that 
     are failing and new leadership for schools that do not 
     respond to assistance. One novel feature is a right of 
     transfer for students to go from failing schools to those 
     that are providing better educational opportunities.
       Indeed, with the ability to select schools in the county, 
     magnet schools in the city and the right to transfer out of 
     failing schools, St. Louis parents will have a greater range 
     of choice than exists elsewhere.
       Is there a price to be paid for these positive changes in 
     education? Yes, voters must approve the two-thirds-of-a-cent 
     increase in the sales tax. But St. Louis citizens will get a 
     2-for-1 one return ($45 million in state funds for about $20 
     million in local revenues), a much better deal than has been 
     offered anyplace else.
       And while the funds will barely match those now ordered by 
     the court, the city will be rid of noneducational expenses 
     such as court costs and can get an even better educational 
     return by investing in initiatives that have proved 
     effective.
       If, on the other hand, the levy loses, state funding will 
     terminate in the foreseeable future and the prospects for the 
     city will be bleak.
       As two people who have spent all of our professional lives 
     serving as advocates for children, we know that opportunities 
     for a community to make a difference in the lives and futures 
     of children come along very rarely. We pray that the people 
     of St. Louis will grasp the opportunity next Tuesday.

[[Page E1584]]

            [From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 3, 1999]

                          Voting For a Miracle


                            Public Education

       The campaign for a just settlement to the 27-year-old 
     school desegregation case ended in victory on Tuesday. The 
     crusade to improve the education of all our children begins 
     today.
       Tuesday's overwhelming vote in favor of the sales tax 
     increase for city schools is the latest miracle in a year of 
     political miracles.
       The first was getting the Missouri Legislature to pass a 
     law to continue making extra payments to the St. Louis 
     schools after the end of court-ordered desegregation. The 
     second was Dr. William H. Danforth's trick of getting the 
     platoon of lawyers to stop squabbling and hammer out a deal. 
     The third was persuading the people of St. Louis to lay aside 
     their opposition to taxes and lack of confidence in the 
     schools and, instead, to tax themselves in hopes of a better 
     future.
       This feat makes us the first place in the nation where the 
     democratic institutions of government found a way to preserve 
     the gains of the era of desegregation while making it 
     possible to improve the education of all children.
       Imagine. This happened in Missouri.
       But as much as we deserve to be proud, it will avail us 
     nothing if we go back inside our homes and businesses 
     thinking the problem is licked.
       It isn't. We have to commit ourselves to something that is 
     much bigger, much harder and much more important than a few 
     political victories. We have to commit ourselves to improving 
     our schools in tangible ways that transform * * *
       The uncomfortable truth is that we don't know how to do it. 
     But the voters aren't going to take that as an excuse for 
     failure.
       A majority of voters said in exit polls that they did not 
     have confidence in the St. Louis public schools. But almost 
     half of those voting in favor of the tax said they did so in 
     hopes of strengthening neighborhood schools. In other words, 
     people don't trust the schools and were unhappy voting for 
     the tax, but they went ahead out of civic obligation and now 
     expect results.
       Trust and success are inextricably linked. If we can re-
     establish trust, if we can pull together in search of this 
     common purpose, we won't fail.
       All of those who pushed hard to pass the tax have an 
     obligation in this respect.
       School officials who talked about accountability must make 
     that word mean something. Lawyers who brokered the agreement 
     must see to it that the promises of educational improvement 
     are enforced. Civic leaders who backed the tax must redouble 
     the commitment of their groups and corporations to the 
     schools. Newspapers that crusaded for the deal, must keep 
     their light shining along the path toward better schools.
       Suburban school districts too have an obligation. More than 
     half the voters said in exit polls that they considered the 
     city-county transfer program a success. That heightens the 
     duty of suburban school districts to stick with the program 
     past the three-year opt-out period and to improve the 
     education that 13,000 city students get at the other end of 
     the bus ride.
       Making a quantum improvement in the education of our city 
     school children will take a miracle. In St. Louis today, mere 
     miracles are within our grasp.

                [From the New York Times, Jan. 8, 1999]

            Deal Struck For Ending Busing Plan in St. Louis

                            (By Pam Belluck)

       The St. Louis school system, which has the country's 
     largest busing program, may soon be released from its 
     longstanding court-ordered desegregation plan.
       After a long, tortuous negotiation process, a tentative 
     agreement reached this week would end 15 years of court-
     ordered desegregation under which about 13,000 black inner-
     city students from the 59,000-student district are 
     voluntarily bused each year to predominantly white suburban 
     schools.
       Minnie Lidell, a parent who was the lead plaintiff in a 
     1972 lawsuit that led to the court-ordered desegregation 
     plan, expressed optimism about the settlement.
       ``I think we have a plan in place where, if all sides live 
     up to their end of the deal, I think we can see some real 
     change,'' Ms. Lidell said. ``We have a chance to improve the 
     quality of education in St. Louis for all kids, and that was 
     our original goal when we started all of this.''
       The lawsuit accused the district of segregating its schools 
     by race. Beyond remedying the racial disparity, the 
     desegregation plan spurred improvements in city schools, 
     including renovation of buildings and the reduction of class 
     sizes.
       The St. Louis settlement comes as a wave of cities across 
     the country seek to be released from court-ordered busing 
     programs. In recent years, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Mo., 
     Denver, Oklahoma City, Nofolk, Va., Wilmington, Del., 
     Nashville and Cleveland, have resolved their desegregation 
     cases.
       But several aspects set the St. Louis settlement apart from 
     others.
       For one, it would not so much discontinue busing as change 
     its financing.
       Many parents and some administrators in both the city and 
     suburban schools would like busing to continue, saying it 
     gives black city students a choice of where to be educated 
     and gives city schools an incentive to compete for those 
     students. A popular part of the desegregation program is a 
     small-scale busing plan under which about 1,300 white 
     students from the suburban counties can attend specialized 
     magnet schools in the city.
       Several years ago, the State of Missouri, which pays the 
     St. Louis schools $70 million a year to run the busing 
     program, went to court to try to have the desegregation order 
     lifted so state taxpayers would no longer have to pay for 
     carrying it out.
       As a result of Wednesday's agreement, which is subject to 
     the approval of Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh of Federal District 
     Court, and the school boards of the participating districts, 
     and a bill passed by the state Legislature last year, the 
     state would reduce its obligation to $40 million. The 
     proposal calls for most of the remaining money, about $23 
     million, to come from raising the city sales tax by two-
     thirds of 1 cent.
       Whether the agreement is completed depends on whether city 
     voters approve the tax increase in a ballot scheduled for 
     Feb. 2.
       ``It's all contingent on the passage of a sales tax, which 
     I think is going to be a tough job,'' said Dr. Cleveland 
     Hammonds Jr., the superintendent of the St. Louis school 
     district.
       The agreement would maintain the current busing for at 
     least three years and would allow students already being 
     bused the option of completing their education in the 
     suburban schools. After three years, the 15 participating 
     school districts in St. Louis County would have the option to 
     stop accepting new bused students, although Dr. Jere Hochman, 
     superintendent of the Parkway School District, which receives 
     3,000 bused students, said he believed that most of the 
     districts would retain the program as long as they continued 
     to receive enough money for transportation and other costs.
       All the parties had some interest in reaching this week's 
     settlement. The state would save money. The suburban school 
     districts would get the freedom to discontinue busing.
       While the city schools would receive about $7 million less 
     for the busing program, Kenneth Brostron, a lawyer for the 
     school district, said the benefit of being freed from the 
     cumbersome court order would make up for it. Now, Mr. 
     Brostron said, many decisions about staffing ratios and 
     programs are subject to approval of the judge.
       And as for the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit, they 
     would receive commitments that the city school district would 
     ``provide for a lot of things to make the schools better,'' 
     said William I. Taylor, the lead lawyer representing the 
     plaintiffs.
       Mr. Taylor said the agreement included provisions that 
     would provide more teacher training, toughen the district's 
     approach to failing schools and would allow students the 
     chance to transfer from a failing school.