The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.21           May 27, 1996 
 
 
Pittsburgh Actions Defend Desegregation  

BY BILL SCHEER
PITTSBURGH - Fifty parents, students, and community activists gathered in front of the Board of Education building here April 29 to urge the school board to pull back on its plan to drastically reduce school busing for the purposes of desegregation.

At its meeting the next day the board retreated from its original proposals and implemented a plan that adds some neighborhood schools but does little to reduce busing.

The board had announced earlier this year that it intended to end busing, a move that would lower the rate of integration in the schools from 58 percent to 45 percent and increase the number of racially isolated schools in the city. A busing plan is currently in effect as a result of a 1979 court-mandated order. The Pittsburgh chapters of the Urban League and the NAACP have led protests, rallies, and educational forums in the last several months to oppose the new redistricting plan.

At a news conference in March, Esther Bush, president of the Urban League, said the plan "is setting us back 100 years," referring to the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson case, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" schooling for Black and white students was the law of the land.

Last June, Mayor Tom Murphy and members of the City Council urged the school board to end its policy of busing. Council member Dan Onorato, an opponent of desegregation, which he labels "forced busing," said busing has caused Black and white middle- class families to leave the city, threatening the tax base and reinforcing poor, inner-city schools.

Eugene Beard, education director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP, answered this by saying, "They talk about white flight to the suburbs, saying that those people left the city because they didn't want their kids on buses. But if you talk to those people, you will find most of those people's kids are still on buses. It's not the bus. It's us!" According to the school board's own statistics, the net loss of school enrollment in the past 10 years has been around 300 students.

Both supporters and opponents of school desegregation have turned out for public hearings that the school board was forced to conduct. City Council member Joe Cusick has led many of those advocating "neighborhood" schools instead of busing.

Both sides have held public demonstrations. On March 18 some 200 people marched against the school board plan. The next week 150 marched to end busing. At times the hearings were raucous, with the board threatening to close down the meetings if order could not be restored. Those opposed to the plan wore buttons saying "Resegregation is not an option," while those in favor had signs and buttons saying "Neighborhood Schools."

In April the Urban League sponsored a forum with a panel of speakers, including education professors from the University of Pittsburgh and a representative of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. All pointed out that desegregation is under attack around the country and said it was important to fight that trend here. The speakers cited statistics showing that schools with all or predominantly Black enrollment were short- changed in resources, which ultimately led to big achievement gaps between Black and white schools.

Following the school board's April 30 decision, Randall Taylor, vice president of the Pittsburgh NAACP, said the new plan would still "resegregate" the city schools but at a slower pace. Taylor had chaired the protest the day before.

Two of the three Black members of the school board also voted against the revised plan and, according to the May 1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said they did not believe it provided enough money for predominantly Black schools.

Valerie Njie, president of the Schenley High School Parents- Teachers Organization, said at the April 29 protest, "While we pushed them back, we must maintain our vigilance because if we don't they will resegregate the schools."

In the meantime, a Bill to make it illegal to bus students for the purposes of desegregation is being pushed through the Pennsylvania state government in Harrisburg. One of the main sponsors of this Bill is State Representative Frank Gigliotti of the 22nd District, on Pittsburgh's South Side. According to the May 1 Post-Gazette, he said, "I am disappointed with Mayor Tom Murphy, totally upset with him," because he had not spoken out against the revised plan.

Gigliotti, a Democrat who is endorsed by the Allegheny County AFL-CIO, is being opposed in the upcoming November elections by a Republican and by Edwin Fruit, a candidate for the Socialist Workers Party and member of International Association of Machinists Local 1976.

Fruit, who spoke at the April 29 protest, said, " `Neighborhood schools' can only mean more segregation and less equal education. From the attacks on immigrant workers to the rulings overturning affirmative action, what is happening here is going on across the country. We have to continue to protest and stay in the streets until we win and maintain our rights." Socialist campaign supporters handed out a statement titled "Resegregation is not an Option! Keep the Buses Rolling!"

Bill Scheer is a member of United Steelworkers Local 1557 in Clairton, Pennsylvania  
 
 
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