Equal Opportunity in the Fort Wayne Community Schools: A ...

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leadership. 4 Below are some of the key points ofcontention and, in parentheses, the percentage ofrespondents who supported the FWEA's rejectionof these positions:1. closing inner-city elementary schools withoutproviding replacement within the inner city (75percent);2. placing the major burden of implementationon the minority community (71 percent);3. treating and adopting the proposal in itstotality (85 percent).Among the alternative proposals recommended byFWEA leadership and supported by the teacherswere the following:1. including at least 75 percent of the elementaryschools in the plan (74 percent);2. committing time, money, and staff for curriculumimprovement and including multiethnicand multicultural approaches in the curriculum(87 percent).According to Marvin Ross, executive director ofthe FWEA, the executive board has recommendedthat the organization join the coalition and he anticipatedthat it would formally do so within a fewweeks. 5 (As indicated in appendix E, the FWEAhas joined the coalition.)Cooperation—A Difference ofOpinionAccording to Robert S. Walters, attorney for theFort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS), the administrationhas made every effort to solicit communityinput and to be responsive to concerns expressedby various segments of the community. 6Board president Lee concurred and stated, "Grilehas been to many meetings, lunches, etc. and hastaken all the information he received into consideration."But, according to representatives ofthe coalition, the administration has been totallyunresponsive.Marvin Ross said the administration has gonethrough the motions of receiving input, but itsdecisions have not reflected that input. He claimedthe input of the black community regarding thereorganization plan was not reflected in that plan.Board member Helen Brown also claimed the administrationhas not been cooperative. While theadministration may listen to community input, shemaintained, the proposal Grile wants to implementdoes not reflect the input received from the community.In fact she asserted that not even theschool board's input was reflected in the plan. 7The Superintendent'sProposal—Reorganization orResegregation?The stated policy of the Fort Wayne CommunitySchools has long been one of support for improvedracial balance and school desegregation. In 1969the school board adopted a resolution that read, inpart: "That the Board of School Trustees willsearch for ways and do what it can to helpeliminate racial segregation in the entire schoolsystem, including the elementary grades." The July8, 1974, minutes of the board of school trusteesincluded the following statement:This Board passed a motion on November 10,1969, declaring that it would do what it couldto eliminate racial segregation. The problemhas not been whether the Board was fordesegregation, but how it should implement itsconcern.Similar pronouncements have been made in thesubsequent years. 8But questions have been raised as to whether ornot actions on the part of the administrationreflect the stated policy. As indicated earlier, onereason OCR dropped the student assignment issuewas that the school district had voluntarilydesegregated its junior high schools. In 1971, whileOCR was conducting its investigation of potentialTitle VI violations, the FWCS converted WeisserPark and Memorial Park Schools from junior highto elementary schools. As a result, racial imbalancesat the junior high school level werereduced. Board president Lee referred to SuperintendentGrile as a "genius" who was able todesegregate half the students in 1 year without anymajor disruption. Racial imbalances in the elementaryschools, however, were increased. WeisserPark changed from a 61 percent minority juniorhigh school in 1970-71 to a 76 percent minorityelementary school in 1971-72. Memorial Parkchanged from an 80 percent minority junior highschool to an 82 percent minority elementaryschool. During those 2 years the percentage ofminority elementary students enrolled in schoolswith minority enrollment of 50 percent or largerincreased from 67 percent to 73 percent. 910
Alleged contradictions between the administration'spolicy statements and its actions have beennoted in reference to the current reorganizationproposal. Superintendent Grile claimed that underhis plan only 1,800 (25 percent) of 7,200 minorityelementary students would be enrolled in schoolswith minority enrollment of 50 percent or more in1980. This would represent a reduction from 78percent in 1975 enrolled in such schools. (Seetable 1.) According to board member LeonardGoldstein, however, the commitment to eliminateracial segregation has been diluted and abused inGrile's proposal. 10 Representatives of the coalitionmaintained that building a new high school in thenortheast section of the district will have asegregative effect. Boyd Bosma, desegregationconsultant for the National Education Association(NEA), stated that the plan, "is abhorent in termsof responsibility to the minority community" andthat it would contribute towards resegregation ofschools in the district. 11Latino ConcernsMembers of the Educational Council for LatinoAffairs expressed to Commission staff primaryconcern for what they perceived as denial of equaleducational opportunities for Spanish-speaking studentsand employment discrimination againstLatinos. 12 The council has formally requested theadministration to implement bilingual-biculturalprograms and to hire a Latino administrator todeal with Latino problems. The council claims thatSpanish-speaking students are frequently placed inspecial education classes, that they have a higherdropout rate than other groups, and that counselorsdiscourage Spanish-speaking students frompursuing college and encourage them to enroll invocational education programs. The council alsostated that the administration does not pursueFederal or State funds available for bilingual-biculturalprograms. In the area of employment, thecouncil charged the FWCS with discriminationagainst Latino applicants for teaching positionsand asserted that the failure to hire a Latino administratoris not due to lack of funds, as it saidis the reason given by Grile. (As of 1975, 11, or0.7 percent, of the 1,507 elementary and secondaryteachers were Latinos and no Latino administratorswere employed.) 13The superintendent responded that there is anextensive program operating within the districtthat answers most of the special needs of theSpanish-speaking students. Applications for additionalFederal funds have been denied because ofthe low number of Spanish-speaking students inthe district, according to Grile. As of 1975 Latinosaccounted for 622 (1.5 percent) of the 40,250 studentsin the district. 14 While acknowledging thatSpanish-speaking students frequently haveproblems not faced by most students, Grile maintainedthe major source of the problems is that theLatinos are relative newcomers to Fort Wayne,and they do not have sufficient role modelsestablished in the community to follow. In addition,he said there is a power struggle within theLatino community and the schools are being usedas a battleground by the various segments of thatcommunity. Grile admitted that the dropout ratefor Latino students may be somewhat higher thanthat of other groups, but he denied that they aretracked into special education or vocational educationprograms and away from academic programs.He stated that a lack of resources is onereason why a Latino administrator to handleLatino problems has not been hired and that thiswas not a high enough priority problem to justifyreplacing existing positions with the special Latinoadministrator.What is to be Done?The consensus on the part of the communitygroups interviewed by Commission staff was thatHEW or some other outside source would have tobring pressure on the FWCS to deal with theproblems raised by each group. According toBosma, "the only effective check is OCR investigationand enforcement." The EducationalCouncil for Latino Affairs claimed the administrationwill not deal with its grievances unless"threatened by HEW." Board member HelenBrown said the school administration will neverbring about desegregation unless HEW or someonefrom the outside brings pressure on the FWCS.She recommended that the Commission ask HEWto investigate the situation in Fort Wayne.OCR may have settled its formal charges, theJustice Department may have decided not to pursueits investigation, the Indiana Civil Rights Commissionmay never complete its negotiations with11
Page 1 and 2: CR 1.2:Sch6/24Equal Opportunity int
Page 3 and 4: LETTER OF TRANSMITTALINDIANA ADVISO
Page 5 and 6: PREFACESchool desegregation has bee
Page 7 and 8: THE UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIV
Page 9 and 10: Chapter OneThe ineffectiveness of t
Page 11: facilities, lack of comparability i
Page 14 and 15: tion for the Peabody evaluation (se
Page 16 and 17: minority enrollment of 35 percent a
Page 20 and 21: the schools, and the school board m
Page 22 and 23: icular materials are being addresse
Page 24 and 25: Appendix ACommunications Between HE
Page 26 and 27: Page 3 - Mr. Lester L. Grilewas set
Page 28 and 29: Mr. Frank KruegerPage TwoMarch 22,
Page 30 and 31: Mr. Frank KruegerPage FourMarch 22,
Page 32 and 33: FORT WAYNE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS1230 SO
Page 34 and 35: June 22, 1976Mr. Krueger - 3even th
Page 36 and 37: Page 2 - Superintendent Grile(3) th
Page 38 and 39: SchoolAbbettAdamsAnthony WayneArlin
Page 40 and 41: TRANSFER - BLACK TEACHERS - FOR 197
Page 42 and 43: Appendix CCommunications Regarding
Page 44 and 45: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION. AN
Page 46 and 47: The plan which we now present for c
Page 48 and 49: special instructional facilities. N
Page 50 and 51: Appendix FUrban League Alternative
Page 52 and 53: Appendix GStaff Analysis of Data Pe
Page 54 and 55: Table G-1COMPARISON OF MINORITY STU
Page 56: U. S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTSWAS

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