Chapter 1: Improving Urban Schools Through Partnerships

Last week my culturally diverse middle school students, the majority of whom live in poverty, were studying the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, and the desegregation of public schools in the decades to follow. We then analyzed the political cartoon by Herb Block (Figure 1.1). It was printed the year I entered middle school in 1977, and begins with the caption, “... one nation ... indivisible ...” My students immediately observed how Mr. Block drew a light, space-filled “suburban” school in contrast to a darkened, dirty “inner city” school. Jeremiah raised his hand and burned the following words into my heart: “It’s 2016. Schools are still like that, Dr. D. You’ve got your Black schools with nothing (in the city) and White schools with everything out there in the rich neighborhoods.”