James E. Ryan - Five Miles Away, A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America

FIVE MILES AWAY, A WORLD APART

One City, Two Schools, and the Story of
Educational Opportunity in Modern America

JAMES E. RYAN

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ryan, James E. (James Edward)
Five miles away, a world apart : two schools, one city, and the story of educational
opportunity in modern America / James E. Ryan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-532738-0
1. Segregation in educationLaw and legislationUnited States. 2. EducationUnited StatesRegional
disparities 3. Discrimination in educationLaw and legislationUnited States.
4. School integrationLaw and legislationUnited States. I. Title.
KF4155.R93 2010
344.730798dc22 2009033219

2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

For my parents

I received a great deal of help on this book, from beginning to end. I would like to start by thanking the roughly eighty individuals I interviewed. This group included principals, teachers, parents, students, legislators, school board members, newspaper reporters, school finance experts, and attorneys. Except when they asked to remain anonymous or speak off the record, adults I interviewed are cited by name in the endnotes. I have not identified any students by name, in order to protect their privacy. To a person, those I interviewed were gracious and informative, for which I remain extremely grateful.

I am especially indebted to the principals, teachers, students, and parents at Thomas Jefferson and Freeman High Schools. Edward H. Pruden was the principal at Freeman High during most of the time I was researching the book. He was always willing to answer questions, and his insights into Tee-Jay and Freeman were unparalleled. Indeed, I would not have written about Tee-Jay and Freeman were it not for him. Barbara Ulschmid was the principal at Tee-Jay during the same time period and she, like Dr. Pruden, was very generous with her time. This was also true of their successors: Anne L. Poates, who took over as principal at Freeman, and Tanya Roane, who became principal at Tee-Jay, found time in their hectic schedules to answer my questions and accommodate my visits.

William Russell Flammia, who taught at Tee-Jay from 1966 until 2000, was an invaluable resource on the history of Tee-Jay. Barry Gabay was equally helpful in providing insight into present-day Tee-Jay, allowing me to observe him teach and to speak with his students, who were a remarkably thoughtful, insightful, and delightful group. The students and teachers I met and interviewed at Freeman were also welcoming and informative, as were the parents of students at both schools. I could not have written this book without their help.

I received outstanding research assistance from a large group of talented law students at the University of Virginia, my home institution, and Harvard University, where I visited for a semester during the course of writing this book. This group included: Doug Bouton, Joseph Caissie, Lisa Chadderdon, Kate Foss, Jenna Gallagher, Ross Goldman, John Kabealo, Mike Lecaroz, Matt Madden, Nick Matteson, David Mordkoff, Louise Raines, Mike Riordan, Abby Shafroth, Megan Strackbein, and Katherine Twomey. Stephen W. Murphy proofread the entire manuscript twice and spared me some embarrassing mistakes. Angela Ciolfi, a former student who is currently a first-rate child advocacy attorney, helped me untangle the politics and mechanics of school funding in Virginia.

The reference librarians at the University of Virginia Law School, who as a group are unrivaled in higher education in their combination of talent, speed, professionalism, and good cheer, were their usual perfect selves. Jon Ashley, Ben Doherty, Kristin Glover, Kent Olson, and Cathy Palombi went above and beyond on numerous occasions to track down references and help find data. Michelle Morris deserves special mention for, among countless other things, putting together a team of undergraduate research assistants who pored through the Richmond papers to help tell the story of the first two chapters. Michelle also produced a research memorandum that was longerand betterthan the chapters they supported.

I presented portions of the book at a number of faculty workshops and conferences, including those at Harvard Law School, the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, the University of Michigan Law School, Stanford Law School, and the University of Virginia School of Law. Thanks to those who invited me and to those who attended and asked questions or offered suggestions.

A number of friends and colleagues at Virginia and elsewhere read all or portions of the manuscript and provided very useful feedback. Steve Gillon offered help with the book proposal itself and provided support at every stage, consistently pressing me make the book more accessible to a general audience. Toby Heytens offered some very good suggestions regarding the chapter on standards and testing. Rich Schragger and Risa Goluboff did the same with regard to the first three chapters and helped convince me to weave more of Tee-Jay and Freeman into the narrative. Scott Shapiro read portions of the manuscript and entertained hours of conversation about the book, which benefited me greatly. Michael Heise and Martha Minow each read relatively early versions of the manuscript and offered advice and encouragement. Jack Martin of Richmond also read the manuscript and offered suggestions from the perspective of someone who has lived through some of the experiences I describe.

Ted White read a rough draft of the manuscript and suggested, with his characteristic combination of insight and honesty, that I needed to figure out what the books was about. John Jeffries then read the manuscript and told me what the book should be about, which was right on the money. He also offered, as usual, some elegant writing suggestions. James Forman read the entire manuscript and focused like a laser beam on the weak points and inconsistencies in my argument, forcing me to confront what I had chosen to ignore.

Daryl Levinson read the entire manuscript, endured countless questions and discussions, and offered a number of insightful suggestions and incisive comments. Perhaps most usefully, he suspended his critical judgment just long enough to provide enthusiastic support at some key moments. Mike Klarman read the manuscript with a tremendous amount of care, and he spared neither criticism nor praise, both of which were welcome. Mike is the primary reason I am a law professor in the first place, and his own scholarship, to me, remains the gold standard. His help and encouragement on this project were invaluable. Last but not least, Liz Magill read the manuscript and rightfully focused my attention on the beginning and end of the book. She also provided strongly needed help at the very end of the editing process. I am not sure I would have finished the book without her help.