Incredible derelicition

Fascinating. Lack of Order: The Erosion of a Once-Great Force for Integration by Nikole Hannah-Jones.

The subheading of the article says it all.

The federal government’s vigilance in enforcing the court-backed desegregation of the country’s schools is a shadow of what it once was.

There are two separate issues. One is related to segregation. To what extent does it still exist? What are the consequences? How can it be eradicated? Can it be eradicated without harming achievement? Can it be eradicated without busing? Can it be eradicated given the evidence of self-resegregation on the part of the public? Etc.

But there is a process issue as well which is what the article focuses on. If we accept that segregation exists and that it is harmful and that it is feasible to "solve", then how well is the federal government and the DOJ doing in executing the powers and authority that were vested in them to do exactly that? This article suggests that the answer is that the government has done an abysmal job. Were this a process in a corporation, all the associated executives would be fired for dereliction.

The article is damning. That said, I wonder if the atrocious outcome is not rooted in a societal throwing up of the hands. There was an article a number of years ago, Money And School Performance: Lessons from the Kansas City Desegregation Experiment by Paul Ciotti, which looked at the effectiveness of a massive effort to upgrade educational results through spending and another article looking at the unintended consequences of busing, How the left’s embrace of busing hurt the cause of integration by Tanner Colby.

If spending doesn't fix the problem and forced busing doesn't address it and if the population resegregates faster than you can regulate, then what are the other realistic options?

My take away from this sterling article by Hannah-Jones is two-fold. 1) Government efficacy is atrocious regardless of intent. Housekeeping is required which would likely both reduce costs and increase effectiveness. 2) If top down mandated efforts are not working, then reorient to focus on the local level. Focus on goals that benefit everyone and help the local authorities achieve those goals.

I think the article is also a useful reminder that once we have settled on a course of action, it is never safe to assume that the desired outcome has actually been achieved. Of course there is no segregation in America, we made it illegal fifty years ago. Well . . .