BUSING
BACKGROUND
Busing, the transportation of children beyond their immediate neighborhoods in order to achieve racial balance in the public schools, has
continued to be a major issue throughout the United States. This
section will deal with significant aspects of the busing controversy.
Judicial Trends
Throughout the 1950's and 1960's the great majority of Federal court
decisions on school desegregation focused on de jure segregation,
segregation resulting from legal guidelines set up by state governments.
Southern states, particularly, had in many cases operated "dual" school
systems where whites and blacks were separated into different, but in
theory, equal schools.
Recent court decisions have touched on de facto segregation, the kind
that results from economic forces and housing patterns rather than legal
attempts to create "dual" systems of education. As busing is merely
one of the issues arising from the desegregation cases, it does not
generally appear as a distinct area of concern.
Some of the major Supreme Court desegregation rulings effecting busing
directly or indirectly include:
-The 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which
rejected the "separate but equal" doctrine that had prevailed since
the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Relying on the equal
protection clause of the 14th amendment to the Constitution, the
Court struck down de jure segregation and "dual" systems of
education.
-The Brown II decision of^1955, a clarification of the 1954 case.
The Supreme court recognized that desegregation would take time
for full implementation, but insisted that compliance should take
place with "all deliberate speed."
-The Cooper v. Aaron case 1n 1958, in which the Court rejected an
attempt by the State of Arkansas to intervene in a Federal courtordered desegregation of the Little Rock schools. The Federal
government's authority to carry out desegregation efforts was
asserted.
-The 1968 decision in Green v. School Board of New Kent County,
Virginia. The Court rejected as inadequate desegregation proposals
based an "freedom of choice," unless such plans actually helped to
eliminate "dual" educational systems. The Green case, as well as
the Alexander and Griffin cases of 1969, demonstrated a Supreme Court
view that there was too much deliberation and not enough speed in
Busing
- 1 -
desegregation efforts.
-The 1971 Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education decision,
which endorsed the use of busing as a reasonable means for
desegregation. In order to push for an absolute end to state-imposed
segregation, the Court offered several prescriptions for desegregation.
They were:
-That the limited use made by the district court of racial
ratios as a starting point was proper in the formulation of
a desegregation plan.
-That existence of virtually one race schools places a burden
on the school authorities to demonstrate that composition did
not result from action on their part.
-That remedial alteration of attendance zones as an interim
measure is not beyond the equitable powers of the Federal Court.
-That bus transportation as a toll of desegregation is within
the court's power to grant equitable relief where time and
distance of travel is not so great as to risk either the
health or safety of the children or significantly infringe on
the education process.
-Swann II, the North Carolina Board of Education v. Swann, handed
down the same year, struck down a State law specifically forbidding
busing on account of race,
-The 1973 decision of Keyes v. School District Number 1 of Denver,
Colorado, in which the Court reasserted that the intent of the
school administration was crucial in deciding whether de jure or
de facto segregation was taking place. In the Denver case, the
Court stated that intentional practices such as school site selection
and pupil assignments could result in a type of de jure segregation
and would be Constitutionally unacceptable.
-A 1973 decision, blocking an attempt in Richmond, Virginia to consolidate
suburban and core city schools into a single school district in order
to improve racial balance. In Bradley v. School Board of Richmond and
School Board of Richmond y. Virginia State Board, the Court put
down an attempt to send city blacks to the suburbs and suburban
white students into the city schools. The decision, because of a
4-4 vote, was not definitive.
-A similar case in Detroit, which is still pending before the Supreme
Court, involves a massive exchange of students across district lines.
The "metro" concept, which is concerned with desegregation in areas
without regard to school district boundaries, is one of the primary
issues at stake in the case. A number of other metro cases are
also pending.
Busing
- 2 -
Public Opinion
Gall up polls have shown strong public opposition to busing:
-A poll of 1,500 persons in October 1971, indicated that 77% of
the persons interviewed opposed busing.
-The same poll taken in August 1973, showed that opposition to busing
had increased to 95%.
Most of the persons interviewed favored alternative methods to busing tto
acheive desegregation. Changes in housing patterns and a rearrangemen
of school boundaries were the most frequently suggested improvements.
Busing and Desegregation
As of January, 1974, 40% of the school children in the United States ride
buses to school 3% of all students traveling on school buses do so as
a result of desegregation orders.
Busing has increased education costs between 1 and 2%, with the overall
costs of student transportation comprising only 3.5% of the operating
costs of school budgets.
-In Charlotte, North Carolina, the district directly affected by
the Swann decision, the total operating costs of transportation
increased from $542,444 in 1968-1969 to over $ 2 million in the
1973-1974 school year.
-The energy crises and the resulting costs of fuel have further
inflated the cost of education. In Jacksonville, Florida, where
55,000 pupils are bused under a court-ordered plan, officials
reported this year a scarcity of fuel and a need for special allocations in order to maintain the desegregation effort.
Desegregation has continued despite the various controversies over
busing.
-In 1964, only 1% of the black children in 11 Southern states were
in schools with whites. -By 1973:
-46% were in predominantly white schools.
-28% of Northern blacks attended predominantly white schools.
-25% of Southern blacks were still enrolled in virtually all
black schools (schools where black total more than 90%).
-49% of Northern blacks are in all-black schools. The figure
was 53% for the Border states.
-Nationally, more than 90% of the black school pupils in the United
States have at least some white schoolmates. That figure stood
at only 32% in 1968. Still, nearly two-thirds of the nation's
Busing
- 3 -
black pupils are in overwhelmingly black schools.
-HEW figures show that the percentage of heavily segregated schoolsthose with 80% or more of their students drawn from minority groupshas continued to fall. In 1968, the figure was 68%, in 1970, 49%
and in 1972, a low of 45%.
ADMINISTRATION ACTION
President Nixon has sought to equalize educational systems in the United
States without reliance on busing. In fact, he has on numerous occasions
voiced his personal opposition to busing and his desire for anti-busing
legislation.
In March 1970, he indicated a commitment to the following:
-Official action to terminate deliberate racial segregation.
-Elimination of teacher segregation in school systems in all parts
of the country.
-Maintenance of the neighborhood school system in all parts of
the country.
To meet these goals, the President introduced the Emergency School Aid
Act, granting aid to those schools incurring added expenditures as a
result of desegregation programs. As part of this program:
-HEW granted $71.4 million for aid to school boards.
-The Office of Education was responsible for $3.2 million to retain
approximately 2,500-black teachers and administrators who list their
jobs as a result of desegregation.
In August 1971, President Nixon outlined his proposals for a busing
moratorium and an equal educational opportunities act. Proposed were
articles that would:
-Require that no state could deny equal educational opportunities
to any person on account of race, color or national origin, and
would establish criteria for what constitutes a denial of equal
opportunity.
-Establish priorities of remedies for schools that are required
to desegregate, with busing to be required only as a last resort,
and only then under strict limitations.
-Provide educational funds for those areas of greatest need, in
sufficient guantities and in a manner that will have a substantial
impact in terms of improving the education of children from poor
families.
Busing
- 4 -
Also in August 1971, the President instructed the Attorney General and
the Secretary of HEW to work with individual school districts, encouraging
them to hold busing to an absolute minimum required by law. In a
legislative move the President instructed the Secretary of HEW to amend
the Emergency School Aid Act to prohibit use of any of the funds for
purposes of busing.
The Student Transportation Moratorium Act of 1972,initiated by the President,
in March, would have provided an end to new busing orders while Congress
probed for alternative methods for realizing equal education. At the
same time, he proposed an Equal Educational Opportunities Act which would
have required that busing be used only as a last resort, and then only
under strict limitations. Congress killed the proposal.
The 1972 proposal provided that busing being implemented under the 1964
Civil Rights Act would have remained in effect. The Department of
Health, Education and Welfare had used Title IV and Title VI of the Act
as its authority to establish guidelines for school desegregation conditions which school systems needed in order to receive Federal support.
-Title IV directed the U.S. Commissioner of Education to survey and
report on equality of education and the Attorney General to move
against cases of discrimination in education.
-Title VI assured that there would be no discrimination in Federally
assisted programs. Since HEW had maintained the guidelines, many
of the arguments over the busing issue surfaced in the Education
appropriations assigned to the agency by Congress. The 1972
Education amendments endorsed several of Mr. Nixon's proposals and
stated:
-Assignment or transportation of students or teachers is not
to be instituted to overcome racial imbalance.
-Funds for busing are only to be actuated by express written
request of appropriate local officials. Even in such
circumstances, no funds will be available for transportation
when the health of children is endangered or there is risk
that the educational process will be infringed upon by excessive
bus travel.
-Compliance with court orders requiring that transfer or
transportation of students for desegregation purposes shall be
postponed until all appeals have been exhausted.
-The uniform application of the laws throughout the U.S.
The conflict over busing did not make a major resurgence in 1973, but in
March 1974,the President reiterated his opposition to the practice and urged
a favorable consideration of anti-busing proposals, such as the one offered by
Representative Marvin Esch, Republican of Michigan. That proposal would
restrict court ordered busing to provide that school children be sent to
the school closest or next closest to their homes.
Busing
- 5 -
LEGISLATION
Hearings on forced busing were held by the Senate Judiciary Committee's
Constitutional Rights Subcommittee, February 19-21, 1974. Among several
anti-busing proposals considered were:
-S. 179. Student Anti-Busing Act. Provides that no court of the
United States shall have the jurisdiction to make any decision,
enter any judgment, or issue any order requiring pupils to be
transported to or from school.on the basis of their race, color,
religion, or national origin.
Sponsor: Senator Robert Griffin, Republican of Michigan.
Status: Pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-S. 287. Provides
to hear or decide
Sponsor: Senator
Status: Pending
that Federal courts shall not have jurisdiction
cases or controversies involving the public schools.
William Scott, Republican of Virginia.
in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-S. 1737. Student Freedom of Choice Act. States that no department,
agency, officer or employee of the United States empowered to extend
Federal financial assistance to any program or activity at any public
school by way of grant, loan or otherwise shall withhold, or threaten
to withhold, such financial assistance from any such program or activity,
Sponsor: Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., Democrat of North Carolina.
Status: Pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Another major Senate anti-busing bill is:
-S. 2555. School Guidelines Act. Declares that the application of
Federal law relating to busing should be uniform throughout the
United States.
Sponsor: Senator James Alien, Democrat of Alabama.
Status: Placed on Senate Calendar October 10, 1973.
The principle House measure dealt with in this session was:
-H.R. 69.
Education
Sponsor:
Status:
A bill to extend and amend the Elementary and Secondary
Act of 1965.
Representative Robert Hubser, Republican of Michigan
Passed House on March 27, 1974; passed Senate amended on
May 20, 1974. Conference agreed to June 6, 1974. As
amended, the bill would allow school districts to test
to determine educational disadvantage, a concept opposed
by many Committee members.
Constitutional Amendments
Significant among the many constitutional amendments offered in regard to
busing are:
Busing
- 6 -
-S.J. Res. 9. Constitutional Amendment. Provides that the Constitution shall not be construed to require that pupils be assigned
or transported to public schools on the basis of their race, color,
religion or national origin.
Sponsor: Senator Robert Griffin, Republican of Michigan.
Status: Pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-S.J. Res. 14. Constitutional Amendment. Proposes that no public
school student, because of his race, creed, or color, be assigned
to or required to attend a particular school.
Sponsor: Senator William Brock, Republican of Tennessee.
Status: Pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-S.J. Res. 62. Constitutional Amendment. Prohibits the assignment
or transportation of children to a region beyond that covered by
the neighborhood school, unless such assignment or transportation
is voluntary.
Sponsor: Senator Hermann Talmadge, Democrat of Georgia.
Status: Pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-H.J. Res. 6. Constitutional Amendment. Provides that no public
school student shall, because of his race, creed, or color, be
assigned to or required to attend a particular school.
Sponsor: Representative Bill Archer, Republican of Texas.
Status: Pending in the House Judiciary Committee.
Busing
- 7 -