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Background/Context: Unlike the situation nationally where desegregation progress is faltering, the school district in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has recently undertaken measures to increase balance in pupil assignment despite considerable local opposition to these measures and the absence of a court order requiring the district to do so. Moreover, while other districts that are also pursuing desegregation increasingly rely on voluntary strategies such as magnets, the Rock Hill school district has relied more on adjusting the boundaries of mandatory attendance zones. This article investigates the conditions and developments that facilitated the school district's voluntarily increasing its desegregation efforts through the use of mandatory strategies. In so doing, the article expands upon our previous work that raises the possibility of a new politics of school desegregation. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this essay is to clarify the meaning of voluntary desegregation; to understand the political, demographic, and other conditions that affected desegregation efforts in Rock Hill; and to relate these conditions to broader issues such as the changed (since the civil rights era) relationship between the federal government and local school districts on issues involving desegregation, the relative merits of race- versus class-based public policy, citizen participation in desegregation planning, and the Supreme Court's consideration of voluntary desegregation. Setting: Rock Hill South Carolina. Research Design: Case study. Conclusions/Recommendations: We find that Rock Hill's school desegregation efforts were facilitated by a change in school board elections, the current relatively loose coupling of policy venues on issues involving desegregation, the overlap between the interests of Blacks and working-class Whites in the development of a high school reassignment plan, citizen participation in desegregation planning, and effective leadership from the district's administration. The findings from this case study suggest that in some situations class-based public policy is more effective than race-based public policy, but they also caution equally strongly against making any sweeping claims for the generic effectiveness of class-based public policy. The findings also suggest why and how, contrary to the situation in the civil rights era, the workings of local politics in southern school districts may currently be consistent with the pursuit of school desegregation, not antithetical to it. Because of this consistency, a Supreme Court ruling against voluntary desegregation may be viewed as undermining not only the pursuit of equality of opportunity, but also the democratic ideal of popular sovereignty.

Examines racial/ethnic and gender patterns of educational, occupational, and income attainment in Israel and South Africa in the early 1980s, with reference to four theoretical perspectives on how educational expansion affects subordinate groups. Concludes that occupational and income equity are not increased by educational expansion alone, but require progressive state policies to empower women and traditionally subordinate groups. (SV)

School choice is an increasingly important feature of the US educational landscape. Numerous studies examine whether a particular form of school choice promotes student achievement or whether a type of school choice discourages or encourages diversity by race, ethnicity, and ability. Studies also examine attitudes toward school choice, but these studies are typically limited to the views of parents, teachers, and administrators rather than public attitudes. We contribute to this literature by studying public opinion about magnet and charter schools in five southern school districts. Using a new and unique dataset, we examine if social background characteristics, political ideology, and attitudes toward the role of public schooling, neighborhood schools, and school diversity influence citizen opinion regarding magnets and charters. We find that more educated, higher income, and older individuals do not support charters, while conservatives and Republicans do. Whites are less likely to favor magnets than other races, while the more educated are more likely to favor them. Those who believe public schools should operate for the common good support magnets, as do those who favor diverse schools. However, those who favor neighborhood schools support both charters and magnets. We interpret our findings within the context of case studies of the respective locations and suggest that public opinion studies motivate public policies regarding educational choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the meaning of social capital. The author argues the term social capital impedes understanding because it is often associated with economic discourse even though social capital can also refer to civic engagement, and suggests the term 'social capacity' be employed to avoid confusion.

The business leaders of Charlotte, North Carolina, have played an important role in education policy over five decades, due to their concerns about economic development. These business leaders were influential in implementing a busing plan during the 1970s. The black community's leadership and the business elite set up an alliance which was strengthened by the elite's backing of busing. An influx of newcomers undermined support for busing, and business leaders dismantled the plan, instead using magnets.

This article examines the life and work of political science professor A. Michael Corbett at Ball State University, who died of cancer in 2001. Topics include Corbett's authoring of numerous articles on American politics and political science in general.

William J. Blough, by Stephen Samuel Smith, Winthrop UniversityA. Michael Corbett, by Joseph Losco, Ball State UniversityPhillip O. Foss, by John Straayer, Colorado State UniversityArnold J. Heidenheimer, by John H. Kautsky, Victor T. LeVine, and Robert H. Salisbury, Washington UniversityRita Mae Kelly, by Jane Bayes, California State University, Northridge [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses desegregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina in reference to U.S. Supreme Court Case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and mentions interplay between human agency and structural forces, and convergence thesis of legal scholar Derrick Bell.