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The $64 Ques tiara
V a Chapmr Two percent of the school budget had been voted TOTAL INTEGRATION - THE $64 QUESTION g 7 V ‘1.
by the Board in 1964 (at the same time it decided to 15
A calypso sung throughout the Berkeley School integrate the secondary schools) to go toward compensa
District on all manner of eccasions, from early 1967 on tor)’ education and, as We have Seen, 555A funds were
- helping in many ways to improve learning possibilities proclaimed: I d a date ‘1 we Ye ma 6 in the target area schools. But to Dr. Sullivan, nothing to lntegrate short of full integration would meet the human, 50cial, - - r by sway Elght‘ and educational needs he saw. He pressed on toward that
But how the goal was accepted, how the timetable was goal.
set, how carefully the transition was planned, and how $7 He was by no means alone. He had an unusually
't ossible is map-Y hundreds Of People workec‘ to make 1 p competent and cooperatnre staff team that worked
- r . This was a _ . one Of the great Stones n 5611001 hlsw y creatively With h1m. He had a board that unanimously
cause that demanded total input, inspired leadership, Supported hlm and urged him on, even though they at
' ' " ura e Muse Step—by-Step plannlng ln‘undlarted ways, CO g times criticized some of his procedures. The April 1967
and dedicated Hf0110wer5hip". school board election had shown the strong support the
Dr. Sullivan was a master organizer and salesman.
citizenry gave to the incumbent board members, electing ce and work with _ _ He knew how to Persuade’ (la-7019’ lnfluen them by g1v1ng them 25 to 28 thousand votes in contrast
' ' ents and I i
the Board, hls excellent staff and Wlth Par to an average 8 thousand for thelr opponents_ This re_ 3. 01 district I g chlldren. H15 motto was to create a scho markable demonstratlon of approval gave bOth Dr. SUlllvan I
"worthy of imitation", and he made no secret that to him
and his board a great sense of security as they moved
this meant a fully integrated school system and improved
ahead. He had, most important of all, a citizenry which
quality of education all down the line. He believed this
I had been undergoing intensive education in civil rights - 0 children _ _ . . . F was only p0551ble for both Cauca51an and Negl" and in appreciation and understanding of minority values 11'
by learning to know each other in integrated classrooms. " 7' and problems, led by his own Office of Intergroup Educa
He believad it was important that all kinds of children I tlon, dlrected by Kathryne Favors.
learn from each other and he had no patiGnCe with parents
The aims of the leaders of the Intergroup Educa
who felt white children would in the long run be losers I _ tlon PTOJBC?» were by now well established, Widely known, 1
educationally. i , H", “0-..”,
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The $64 Question
and widely accepted in the community. They constantly tried to confront directly any feelings of prejudice, inferiority, fear, and separation. They tried to give alienated Negroes confidence and self—respect through participation. They worked to change the attitudes of white parents as well as black parents so that each recognized his differences as healthy, interesting, and desirable rather than perceiving them as badges of inferiority or superiority. They helped Negroes to "stand tall" and whites to be more comfortable, considerate and fair. They were in a very real sense "the conscience of the community". And the numbers of "inte— grationists" of both races kept growing as each group experienced the satisfactions of_ working together and extending its OWn horizons.
In 1965 the District had made a farsighted, long overdue effort to reach publishers of textbooks used in the schools. There was dissatisfaction with the kind of white, Anglo—Saxon, middle—class pictures and situations that were about all they offered. Dr. Sullivan described these texts as perpetuating force in racial discrim— ination". At a Community Assembly on Creating Intelli— gence sponsored by the Intergroup Education Office, one important program component was a forum on the subject of available current texts with multiracial relevance. Eighty national publishers were invited to send samples
of their offerings and to attend the conference and/0r
The $64 Questian
serve on a panel on the subject. Three publishers came; and Berkeley authors and book—sellers joined them in discussing this challenging subject. The fact that California educators throughout the state viewed this meeting as important was testified by the registration of 667 [only 285 had been expected).
The major speaker at the conference was Thomas Braden, former president of the California State Board of Education. He spoke to the point that "elimination of racial prejudice is the number one problem for California educators".
A brochure distributed to the assembly asked
important questions:
1 . How can curriculum material be more racially balanced?
2. Is prejudice being taught through omission and distortions?
3. Should national publishers produce two editions of all texts, one for the south and the other for the rest of the country?
4. How are teachers presenting Negro history and literature?
5. Should the lack of present preparation be permitted as a justifiable reason for failure to teach Negro history and literature?
6. What is the function of those subjects in changing attitudes?
In partial anSWer to the questions raised above, a small group of teachers at Franklin Sthool decided to Write and publish their own book, On th_e Go, to show
their children on field trips as the characters written
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The $64 Ques tiara
about, in the children's own words, and pictured as they were "on the go" in situations they therefore knew and related to. All through the district teachers devised new teaching materials and sought better ways to teach. In 1967 a Negro history guide was presented to the Board and adopted. In the spring of the 1966—67 school year all Berkeley school principals took a special course in Negro history. Thus the community, both in and beyond the schools, was preparing itself for change.
Concurrently, a group calling itself the Quality Education Committee for South and West Berkeley Schools had been formed under the leadership of Velma Bradley,
a dynamic Negro parent. It held two workshops, one in March 1967 and another in June 1968, to which board mem— bers, staff and parents were invited. Tough questions were asked about conditions still existing in their
schools, similar to those asked so forcibly earlier by the west Berkeley teachers. Parents again objected to poor counsreling, tracking, and most of all to continued segregation. They acoused the Board of lip—service and too little action to solve their problems, which were crying out to be solved. They came up with a unanimous retommendation that Berkeley schools should be integrated from kindergarten through high school.
PANS had prophesied back in 1964 that the elementary schools would be integrated next. It was a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Mixed racial classes in parent
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The $64 Question
nurseries and in the adult school testified to the possible satisfying education that could be provided in integrated settings. Garfield (renamed Martin Luther King, Junior High School at its student body's request in August 1968) was still having serious problems. To many thoughtful observers it became daily more evident that integration to be successful must begin as early
as possible in the life of a child.
Board meetings at this time took on a. new vital— ity. Many of the parents who had become community aides and now felt comfortable at school board affairs really put on pressure for full integrationl Alphas and Annie Scoggins, low income black parents of eight children
gelng through the Berkeley schools, came to nearly every
meeting and insisted that they had grievances that needed righting. Lulubelle Perovich, a beautiful, stately grandmother warmed up the meetings by turning to the Board and the audience and urging them to join hands and
5mg together "We Shall Overcome" which she led. Before
she sat down she always exhorted the crowd to keep work
mg for integration for all of our children "because it
15 right". Her amen was a poignant, "Love one another." The message that kept coming across to the Board
was very clear, "Delay is the deadliest form of denial."
White parents too were affirming their growing belief that segregation perpetuates the attitudes which
always say, "It will take time to change" and fail to
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The $64 Question
prepare children to live later as unprejudiced adults.
Sparky Avakian spoke out strongly:
If young children do not learn to absorb early, through work and play relationships, a feeling that color is irrelevant to personal worth and dignity, very_few will be able to achieve this kind of maturity as adults. Quality education, to which this school district is committed, involves much more than facts and skills. It also requires insight, understanding and the capacity to use facts and skills constructively and effectively. N0 educational program can claim high quality if it does not result in building attitudes that will create good adult relationships. Segregated education is so high a barrier to quality education that it must be removed both for the sake of good education as well as for social morality.
In April 1967 the Board, pressed by such vocal, moving parents, by teacher groups, and by their own fundamental conviction that elementary integration was the right course to follow [despite many still doubting and fearing but diminishing voices in the community), passed a resolution giving its commitment to total de— segregation of its schools. The resolution, passed unanimously, read: In entering a period of intensive discussion and decision with respect to the many different p05— sibilities for achieving integration in the
Berkeley schools, the Board wishes to affirm its general commitment to the principle of eliminating de facto segregation in the Berkeley School District, within the context of continued quality education and aiming toward a. date no later than September 1968.
was no longer a question of shall we integrate
the elementary schools, but how and when shall we do so.
At the May 16 board meeting, just one month later, many
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The $64 Question
of the Negro leaders, both parents and teachers, and many white liberals who insisted, "We have waited long enough," tried to push the Board into immediate action: "Integrate by ’67." Heated discussion, including almost
overpowering oratory by one board member and almost
capitulation by the Superintendent to accept the earlier date, finally resulted in the Board’s setting up a calendar for full integration, with the ultimate firm date
set for September 1968. This resolution, again passed
unanimous 1y stated:
The Board of Education reaffirms its commitment to desegregation of all Berkeley schools in September 1968 and directs the administration
to develop and present a plan or accomplish this goal. The Board directs that each plan be developed in the context of quality 1m: 1' 1- - - education and that 3full particil-Jééigri 5% $5525, staff, and community take place prior to action by the Board.
The Board regards _the complete integration of
its schools as such an important and significant undertaking that sufficient time must be devoted to the planning and preparation for the transi~ tion, in order to assure success. Therefore, no flunk” . V . “no , “U elementary desegregation plan will be implement€d in September of 1967. We authorize the adminis * trative staff to begin 1.12, planning such items as teacher preparation, curriculum development, etc. , as early as possible, but no later than October 1967, so that we may adopt the most effective plan as early as possible, but no later than January or February of 1968 and spend the remaining time prior to September 1968 refining' the plan and preparing for full implementation.
The Board, gratefully conscious of the intelligent interest of this community, invites the community to submit ideas and suggestions in the months immediately ahead so that the best possible plan can be deVeloped.
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The $64 Question
This statement of intent may seem both wordy and redundant. The Board, chastened by its own recognition of the "too little preparation" in its secondary school desegregation action was determined to spell out for the record both its insistence on adequate planning and its continuing openness to community input.
The community responded generously to the call for help. Forty—two possible plans, ranging from brief outlines to nineteen elaborately thought-out blueprints, were submitted by PTAs, teachers and individuals to the staff group, headed by Richard Hunter (black vice prin— cipal of Jefferson School), that had been assigned to examine and recommend the best plan possible for Berkeley. It reviewed plans which involved the establishment of middle schools; which left the already "mixed" schools in the middle of the city alone; which visualizad build— ing an educational park complex; and studied voluntary busing, Mr. Wennerberg's suggestions of 1964, and many variations of these basic suggestions.
Using federal funds granted to the District to study "Educational Parks or Other Alternatives to Achieve Integration", a professional committee headed by Dr. Arthur Dambacher (former superintendent of Oreville schools, new Director of Research and Evaluation in
Berkeley) had already been working hard on this project, assembling all manner of pertinent demographic informa—
tion. Now, taking all the variety of plans submitted,
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The $64 Questian
Dr. Dambacher's team joined Richard Hunter's staff study
in a group called "The Claremont Group" (because it met away from the school sites at the Claremont Hotel]. 1 Together they dug in to examine all suggested possibil
itics for total integration that would be fair to all
children and that the District could afford. They used
elaborate techniques to perfect "an intricate design by
which all elementary children could be mixed in eVery
classroom according to their racial proportion in the
SChoolsn- BUSiRg to achieve this desired result was
given top priority for discussion, as were the adequacies
and inadequacies of present school buildings. The
Business Office, then headed by Dr. A. Orrin Bachelor, tackled the tremendous task of estimating the costs
involved in each suggestion.
The committee's ultimate suggestions submitted to Dr. Sullivan included a choice between two plans, one keeping the kindergarten through grade 6 structure in all the schools but keeping a core of children who livad nearby always there and rotating other children out and
in to achieve racial balance. This plan was favored by many elementary school teachers who had negative feelings ;
about too many changes of school assignments during a
child's school life. But, though this plan would cost less than the other plan, it was judged unfair because some children would be bused for all seven elementary
years while some would continue to have the advantage of
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The $64 Question
never being bused. The second plan, which was the one finally accepted as a pattern to work with, divided the city into four strips from the hills to the Bay In— cluded in each strip was one school in the flats for all children in grades 4, 5 and 6 to which children would be bused if they lived more than a mile away. All in kin— dergarten through third grade would be assigned to the
smaller hill and middle Berkeley schools in their desig— nated zone and be bused to school if they lived 3/4 mile away. These criteria were set to meet the state laws which allow reimbursement for busing those particular distances.
Both of these plans, having been studied intensively by the Superintendent and his staff, were submitted to the Board for decision, but with the Super— intendent's positive recommendation of the K-3, 4-6 configuration. When on October 3, 1967 this latter plan, now called "The Berkeley Plan", was presented to the Board, the Claremont Committee was dismissed and Arthur Dambacher's committee on "Educational Parks or Other Alternatives for Desegregation" shifted its emphasis from the educational park idea to the Berkeley Plan as 1221—2 alternative and went to work on solving the many complicated logistics involved.
Before the Board made its choice of the proposed plans, and during the lively discussion preceding that
choice, quite a few possible minor changes were made at
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The $64 Question
the suggestion of parents, including the need to provide buses to pick up late or lost children, sick children, or children who wanted to stay after school for recrea— tion on the playgrounds. Also, it was recommended and agreed that the ESEA children who had been part of the pilot project of busing children from flats to hill schools should be allowed to continue to attend these same schools.
During this period, hundreds of letters poured across the board members' desks. They came from both supporters and opponents of 5H plan to achieve total integration. But for the most part they were thoughtful, carefully worded letters accepting integration as an ultimate goal, but fearing for the resultant lessening of the quality of education. Some felt the money spent on busing could be much better spent on hiring more teachers and/or counselors, supplying better textbooks, or in a myriad of ways that would compensate minority children for their previous poorer education. The tone of the letters for the most part was moderate, even when strongly critical. Only a few used the harsh and destructive language of the recall days.
The PTAs also involved themselves in in—depth study and discussion of possible reorganization plans. After study, several polled their membership and sent the results, including many quotations from responding
parents, to the Board to indicate their parents'
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The $64 Questic'n
reactions. Viewed overall, the reactions seemed to con— cur in support of the Superintendent's plan. After this three—month period of discussion and revision, the and 4—6 plan was adopted on January 16, 1968.
Now that the structure had been determined, preparation for an orderly and educationally rewarding transition was begun. At the same time the Claremont Committee was struggling through its examination of the many plans offered for appraisal, they had suggested
that another committee be formed to address itself to the questions: What would go on at the end of the bus line? What should the educational program in the new integrated settings be? On July 24, 1967 that committee, headed by Harriett Wood, Director of Elementary Educa— tion, began (l) to plan and implement quality education with greatest attention and time given to reading, (Z) to plan appropriate new enriched curriculum to match the racial diversity in each classroom, [3) to consider grouping for effective learning, (4) to include ample supportive services and to develop pupil-teacher ratios and staffing procedures.
All of these recommendations were to be based on recent and relevant research. The emphasis in planning was to assure integration not just desegregation. The Garfield experience warranted the conclusion that successful integration needed much more than assigning
black and white children into the same buildings.
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The 364 Question
Recent history had taught the lesson that great efforts
must be made to anticipate possible friction, to provide
flexible and motivated staff, and to prepare children in
advance for the new experiences they were to share. It was felt that an all-out dedication to develop an environment of acceptance and love hae to be made to nurture
children whose heritage had been discrimination, separa
tion, fear and distrust.
When Bob Frelow, an ESEA consultant at the secondary level, was appointed to take over direction of the Office of Elementary Integration, he stated its
educational goals would be:
...to create an integrated school environment that lessens prejudice and discrimination... with each class heterogeneous, reflecting the racial, socio—economic, and intellectual diversity that is Berkeley.
The program...m1_15t meet the needs of each
VJ. URL“. pupil, maintaining and improving the academic level of 'high achievers' while raising the learning level of others. Each student must kn “MW” . .
. Hun.“ Jhuuulll, lllubl. be encouraged to learn at his highest ability level, helped by teachers who can diagnose his needs and provide the means to meet them. Through individual application of materials nnj
‘L v...
and methods each student should attain a sense
of security, self—identity, and self-confidence. . . . The accent on the worth of the individual nnei- k» if" v1“; must be consistently punctuated with tangible successes which are meaningful to him, his parents and his peer group
The staff, under the leadership of the Superin
tendent, devoted cauntless hours to getting the schools, the teachers and the curriculum ready for the opening of
school the next September. But the community and the
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The $64 Question
children were just as busy, led in large part by the Office of Intergroup Education and the Office of Elementary Integration. Everywhere brainstorming sessions were held to come up with effective means of getting the children and their parents ready for the contemplated change. PTAs were indefatigable in their experiments designed to remove stumbling blocks in the way of success. An intergroup chorus was organized under the guidance of the Oxford PTA with Cragmont, Thousand Oaks, Whittier, Columbus, and Franklin joining in the participation. Frances Borges directed, Claire Shallit accom— panied, and the children sang! For twelve weeks, sixty kids,_chauffered by ten to fifteen parents, rehearsed once a week. Finally, the great moment came when they presented Bill Robinson's "The Lonesome Train" (a story of an incident in the life of Abraham Lincoln) to a cheering crowd in the Columbus School cafetorium. The crowd was so large people nearly had to "hang from the rafters".
During rehearsals there was the usual hassling and fussing between the kids during the first few weeks, but things betteredas being part of a cooperating group grew in importance. After their first triumphant per— formance they repeated their concert twice' more, once for the Columbus student body and once as featured stars at the Freedom Festival at the high school. In ensuing
years, youngsters formerly separated at Columbus or
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The $64 Question
Oxford or Franklin, would greet each other: "Oh, hi! I know H. You were in the ohorus!" The next year they did "Ballad for Americans" and continued "getting to know you" through the bond of music.
Oxford PTA was constant in its efforts, perhaps due to the fact they had discovered that after tough controversy, followed by difficult decision—making, people can accept results and decide to work together. The PTA had a potluck supper the June before integration and exPected only a moderate turn-out. Five hundred
people came and demonstrated that they were a real com~
munity. Perhaps because it was their last time together as a segregated school family they felt warm solidarity with each other and determined to work with great good will to make the new concept of integrated education a success.
It was Oxford PTA that started the idea of bus tours to take kids and parents to visit their new school and get acquainted with their new setting and their new classmates. Other PTAs followed suit. The trips were so popular that where, in one instance, two hundred had been planned for, six hundred came. The reserved special buses had to shuttle back and forth.
A Play Day at Temescal Park was organized for fourth—graders from Oxford, Cragmont and Columbus - Zone A [see map). It was so successful it was repeated
for two years following. Every fifth—grader in the
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The $64 Question
District was invited to a session of a Science and Human Relations Camp at Camp Bothin. They learned a. lot about the outdoors, but they learned even more about each
other, talking in the tents in the night~time quiet and darkness in ways that might have been impossible before.
Parent— teacher groups met in new alignments by zone; buildings were remodelled to meet code regulations; books and supplies were moved from elementary to primary schools and vice Versa. Small meetings in homes were held with neighbors invited in and a speaker from the Board or staff present to answer troubling questions . Small delegations of Negro parents went calling in the hills to tell hill parents about M children's needs and aspirations . Pupil exchanges and mixed play days abounded.
The Superintendent formed an Advisory Council of fifth-graders, who would be the "elders" in the new 4—6 schools. Delegates to the council were elected by their peers and were made to feel invaluable to Dr. Sullivan as important advisers meeting with him monthly. He queried them about their fears and hopes and solicited their candid solutions. They wore little white buttons with red letters spelling out "TOGE'L‘IIER", and they always sang with great gusto while sitting in a circle around
their Superintendent — usually the "Integration Calypso"
or "We Shall OVercome".
ESBA funds permitted publishing explanatory and
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The $64 Question
optimistic reports on "The Berkeley Plan". Nitty-gritty communication regarding logistics, school assignments, bus routes and stops, and educational plans were explained in each issue of the BUD (Eerkeley yflnified Qistrict). Carefully worked out, complete bus schedules were made and distributed to every home followed by a door—to-door campaign, manned by volunteers who were prepared to answer personally any questions parents still had about "what to do when school opened".
Quality education plans were deVeloped under the direction of Harriett Wood. Student help centers and special multimedia learning labs were planned for each of the 4-6 schools. Reading programs were tailored for use in the K-3 schools‘
Of utmOst value was the Teacher Exchange Program that involved the entire elementary teaching staff of three hundred. The District employed fourteen full—time extra teachers so that regular classroom teachers could visit and teach in schools different from their usual milieu — hill teachers to flats schools and flats to hills. Seminars and task-oriented workshops explored, the best use of old materials as well as creative use of new materials never aVailable before.
A most significant contribution was made by a group of 38 highly motivated black staff members led by Larry Wells, Ramona Maples and June Long. They were so
eager to help in the successful implementation of the
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The $64 Question
new plan that they persuaded the School Board to let them have Lincoln School facilities, free of charge, for the summer. They donated their services and developed special curriculum in an all-out attempt to get black kids ready for the anticipated move. They called their effort TCB - Iaking _C__are of Eusiness or leaching, Ehallenging, Euilding.
After all the rhetoric, had come the hard work! One PTA president commented that as a result of all these varied joint efforts: "We knew each other so well by the time we actually integrated, everything was much easier than we had anticipated. " A new pattern was being cut — blacks driving up the hills , whites driving down, blacks and whites together in homes all OVer' the city.
Finally, on September 10, 1968 the buses rolled! The teachers had been paid to come back three days early to get to know each other as co-workers on their new school staffs, to "pretty-up" their classrooms to make them specially pleasing and welcoming to their new charges, and to find out their names and a little about their former schools and their problems.
Many new black teachers had been recruited to the district in the past several years under an intensified minority hiring program initiated by Burnell Johnson and encouraged by Dr. Sullivan and the Board. They responded
with enthusiasm to the new school patterns. The three
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The 364 Question
day preschool period gaVe them an opportunity to become part of their team and let them share in the feeling of great expectations that permeated the schools.
Principals and teachers had been permitted to choose the grade level for which they felt best prepared. Many principals were thus able to take with them to their new sites, a goodly number of faculty whose special skills and strengths they already knew.
The parents, many of them still apprehensive about the wisdom of putting 5-, 6— and 7—year-01ds on buses, were anxious but cooperative. They had been re— assured by a state survey on transportation that going to school by bus was safer than walking, riding a bi— cycle, or going in the family car or a neighborhood car pool. The children looked upon the bus trips as an ad— venture and were given a pleasant feeling of security because for the first few weeks a parent went along on
the ride. When the first day was over, everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief. There had been no major mishaps! Two children were reported lost by their frantic parents. One was found in his own bathroom and the other had gone to keep a dentist appointment his mother had forgotten! One bus had missed a pick-up, but that was quickly cor— rected. It has been reported that one teacher went home and said: "I was so happy, I cried all night!" Doubtless, many, not so candid, shared her emotion.
The greatest excitement that week, hOWever, was