Helping the Cause or Fanning the Flames? County Council Involvement in a Post-PICS School Desegregation Effort

Abstract

General-purpose government actors (e.g., mayors) have become increasingly involved in education since the late twentieth century. But while education policy has moved from education-specific to general-purpose government arenas, school desegregation policy has moved in the opposite direction. General-purpose government actors’ involvement was key to reducing segregation from the mid- to late-twentieth century; however, Supreme Court cases leading up to Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS) have left desegregation in district actors’ hands. This paper explores one county council's involvement in a recent attempt to desegregate schools by redistricting, or redrawing school attendance boundaries, in Howard County, Maryland—a unique case that presents an opportunity to learn whether the involvement of local government officials, who are well-positioned to support these efforts, could spark progress toward desegregation in the post-PICS era. I find that the council's efforts to promote desegregation in the Howard County Public School System were more symbolic than substantive. Council members’ actions contributed to community resistance that led the school board to enact a redistricting plan that would have further segregated schools, and the council failed to make good on their promise to simultaneously address housing segregation. Ultimately, this case serves as a call to local officials and school district leaders to create and capitalize on opportunities for collaborative, cross-sector desegregation efforts, and sheds light on the sources of political power and influence strategies that may be required to bring those efforts to fruition.