Segregation in Greene County School District

Well, hello again you little youngsters! Dearie me, so much has happened since I last logged in that I don't even know where to start. It's been business as usual in my rural little town, and I've recently grown quite fond afternoon tea and crumpets.
But on to more relevant topics! You wouldn't believe what's been happening in another small town much like my own, and just a drive away south. If anyone should be protected from infringements upon civil rights, it's the children of America! Unfortunately this isn't the case in Greene Cnty Georgia.
I was so incennsed by this situation, that I took it upon myself to write an editorial for our local paper on the discrimination occuring in a town so like my own.
I've included the article below. I'd love to know your thoughts on the school board's decision! Is involuntary segregation by gender any different than forced segregation by race?
Yours, as always,
- Ms. Sibil Liberty

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“Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” This statement, made by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, seems straightforward enough. The historic decision, reached in 1954, outlawed segregation in public school systems, thereby overturning the doctrine of Plessy vs. Fergson. Thanks to this ruling, America’s children are now free from discrimination within the public school system— excluding, of course, the newly segregated educational facilities in Greene County, Georgia.

In an attempt to raise test scores, the board of education in Greene County decided in late February to segregate all academic classes by gender. Girls and boys are now separated in all core subjects, and are allowed to interact only in electives such as band, and various sports. Apparently the county’s board of education, a part of our nation’s government-funded public school system, is willing to sacrifice the civil liberties of its children in order to raise test scores and increase the district’s appeal to incoming students. Congratulations tax payers: you are now involuntarily providing fiscal aid to a discriminatory institution.

But wait-- maybe I’m being far too hasty. Perhaps I have not given the new system’s merits a chance. As Greene County board of education president Janice Gallimore said, “Give it a chance, try it. I think, once people understand the advantages, it will work out.” Ms. Gallimore goes on to suggest that there is a “fear of change,” among objectors, and as much as I hate to admit, she’s entirely right. I am afraid of change. I’m afraid that the segregation in Georgia’s Greene County School District will spread across the South, subsequently affecting the opinions of students and parents within the area, resulting in a slow reversal of national policy that will pull America backwards down a slippery slope of discrimination. But who cares about the potential long-term affects on civil rights, as long as the district gets better test scores?

Despite the fact that the impact of segregation on test scores is irrelevant in regard to the issue’s legality, let us take a look at Gallimore’s reasoning for the division.

“Girls tend to do better in small groups. Quiet time. Boys tend to do better when they are able to express themselves,” Gallimore said. This stereotypical depiction of gender-determined learning skills is, for many students, quite the opposite.
" I learn better when I'm in a loud environment, where there's plenty of debate and aggressive banterring of ideas. I love that type of socratic class, and feel ilke it better prepares me for the real world," said a local female student.
If we assume that boys and girls work better separately, what should we divide up next? All schools? Workplaces? Involuntary single-sex education doesn’t prepare students for the mixed environment they will experience later on in life.

All opinions aside, the fact remains that segregation of this type in a public school system is downright illegal. Federal Regulation 34 CFR 106.34 subsection (b) (iii) allows for single-sex education in public schools, only if coeducational facilities are made available to students. It states that a school district which “operates a nonvocational coeducational elementary or secondary school may provide nonvocational single-sex classes [only if] . . . student enrollment in a single-sex class is completely voluntary.” By not offering the option of coeducation, the Greene County school district is denying students the right to voluntarily decide whether or not to participate in single-sex education.

Beyond legality, the social impact of this issue is not limited to students, parents, or the educational system. Instead, it raises many other questions relevant to the day-to-day operation of our society. If Greene County were segregated by race, would more people be concerned about the separation of students? What if the school board argued that students learned differently due to race or cultural upbringing? What if Federal Regulation 34 CFR 106.34 allowed for racial divisions in education, as long as an unsegregated alternative were provided? Would this law still be considered constitutional?

In the end, Gallimore’s ruling is not only illegal, but offensive to those individuals in our history who struggled, and even gave their lives, to end segregation and discrimination in public institutions

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