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Ohio district says it will stop allowing white students to leave district, citing 'racial balance'
NBC4 ^ | April 27, 2018

Posted on 04/28/2018 5:24:52 AM PDT by Wolfie

Ohio district says it will stop allowing white students to leave district, citing 'racial balance'

An Ohio school district with a growing proportion of minority students says it will stop allowing white students to attend a neighboring district through open enrollment and take public funding with them because it wants to avoid becoming segregated.

The Liberty Local Schools board just north of Youngstown unanimously backed that resolution this week, stepping into the knotty intersection of education funding and race. It cited a nearly 30-year-old state law that districts can object to students enrolling elsewhere tuition-free "in order to maintain an appropriate racial balance."

The situation is an unusual reversal of how racial issues typically play out in disputes over inter-district open enrollment, said University of Oklahoma professor Deven Carlson, who has studied such enrollment. Those disputes tend to be about affluent, mostly white districts trying to exclude students, Carlson said, not about lower-income, more diverse districts trying to retain them, as in this case.

It's been tried before in Ohio and ended up in court. When Akron schools similarly tried to stop white students from switching to suburban schools two decades ago, a judge blocked enforcement of that effort when Akron was accused of discrimination, and the district quickly changed its policy to more broadly ban open enrollment out of the district.

Liberty Superintendent Joe Nohra, who started looking at enrollment when he took that job this school year, found himself defending his district's approach this week.

"Our board is not making a statement that we want to increase our white population or that we want an all-white school district," said Nohra, who is white. "We just don't want the school district to become segregated."

Liberty gets about 125 students but loses about 250 through open enrollment. More than half the incoming students are minorities, while most of those leaving are white, Nohra said.

That contributes to racial disparities between the local population and the public schools' student roster of a little over 1,000 students. Minorities now account for about half the students but less than 20 percent of residents in Liberty Township, according to state data and the most recent U.S. Census estimates from 2016.

But it's not just about race. It's also about money, because certain funding follows the kids.

Open enrollment away from Liberty diverts over $1.5 million in annual funding from a district that can't afford to replace torn books or its dilapidated running track and likely couldn't pass a local tax increase to help, Nohra said. That leaves the district about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland scrapping for students in a Rust Belt region whose population has been shrinking for years.

So it turned to an Ohio provision that says if the home district objects to local students enrolling in another public district, that district must refuse them unless tuition is paid.

Liberty loses the most students to Girard and targeted it in the resolution, alleging it aggressively pursues white students from Liberty. Board president Calvin Jones, who is black, took a softer tone, suggesting Liberty simply suffers negative effects as Girard strives for its best.

Girard school board president Mark Zuppo said his district doesn't do targeted recruiting and welcomes any students who choose to attend as long as they're in good standing and the school has room.

"I don't care what color they are," said Zuppo, frustrated to be talking about race at all.

He suggested Liberty should evaluate why so many of its students leave.

Liberty officials say they don't have all those answers, but race appears to be one factor. Some families have directly said or implied that Liberty has become "too diverse" too quickly, but others have said they value the diversity, Nohra said.

By contrast, Girard schools have a significantly higher proportion of white students. They also get higher state marks than Liberty in categories such as academic achievement and growth and improving literacy among young readers, according to last year's district report cards.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Liberty students who already attend Girard would be affected by the resolution.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Education said it's seeking more information about the matter.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: akron; calvinjones; cleveland; devencarlson; education; girard; joenohra; libertylocalschools; markzuppo; ohio; uofoklahoma; youngstown
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1 posted on 04/28/2018 5:24:52 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Wolfie

Calling George Orwell.


2 posted on 04/28/2018 5:31:19 AM PDT by Shane (When Injustice Becomes Law, RESISTANCE Becomes DUTY.----T.Jefferson)
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To: Wolfie

Liberty officials say they don’t have all those answers, but race appears to be one factor. Some families have directly said or implied that Liberty has become “too diverse” too quickly,

Sudden onslaught of ferals syndrome


3 posted on 04/28/2018 5:35:10 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Wolfie

“Too diverse” = lots of violence and very little learning.


4 posted on 04/28/2018 5:37:20 AM PDT by SharpRightTurn (Chuck Schumer--giving pond scum everywhere a bad name.)
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To: Wolfie

Get government out of school completely.

Every parent should be able to send their child to the school of their choice without restriction.

School choice YES


5 posted on 04/28/2018 5:38:30 AM PDT by Principled (No one will conquer America, from within or without, until its citizenry are disarmed.)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: Wolfie

We know what the results will be.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing that libs do works in the long run.


7 posted on 04/28/2018 5:40:34 AM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: Wolfie

Racial prisoners...

Discrimination, based on race....

Are we going to play the 60’s again, this time in “reverse”?


8 posted on 04/28/2018 5:40:55 AM PDT by FrankR (An armed society is a polite society.)
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To: Wolfie
"Ohio district says it will stop allowing white students to leave district, citing 'racial balance'"

O Rly ? The parents will simply move.

9 posted on 04/28/2018 5:41:59 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj ("It's Slappin' Time !")
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To: Wolfie

There is a really bad, predominately black school at the Sothern edge of Leon county, Florida. To improve the school’s academic standing, several years ago, the school board expanded its borders to encompass more white children. At the time, I was working with many of those parents at my company. Several of them sold their homes and moved to the most expensive section of town so their children would not be beaten up daily and fear for their lives. (Yes, it’s more like a prison than a school.)

Another thing parents did was move to rented houses in a neighboring county so they could still commute to work but their kids could attend A and B rated schools.

The problem as I see it, is the school system is no longer there to educate, but instead serves somebody’s idea about social engineering. It’s time to start using the internet for education. A friend’s child was doing poorly, injured his back and could no longer attend classes. He switched over to the internet and finished most of a year’s work in just two months, raising his average from low C to high B. Then, he recovered and the school wanted him back. (Not sure how that has worked out.)


10 posted on 04/28/2018 5:42:29 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: All

Time for some of those white kids to suddenly decide they’re really African Americans like Rachael Dolezal. Then they should be allowed to open enroll at the neighboring district to achieve a bit more diversity there.


11 posted on 04/28/2018 5:42:39 AM PDT by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food.)
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To: Wolfie
Liberty Local Schools

Ironic

12 posted on 04/28/2018 5:42:44 AM PDT by mountn man (The Pleasure You Get From Life, Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
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To: Wolfie

Home school. Starve the beast.


13 posted on 04/28/2018 5:52:44 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Wolfie

I think the objective is to try and bring civilization to the savages. However all that is accomplished is turning the civilized into savages.
I didn’t mean that to sound exactly the way it sounds.


14 posted on 04/28/2018 5:54:06 AM PDT by SantosLHalper (Eat some bacon.No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon.")
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To: Cowboy Bob

Interesting point. I believe that was the defining issue that made a young Clarence Thomas into a conservative after he had been a liberal in his college years. The idea that a black child in the U.S. couldn’t get a decent education unless he was sitting next to a white kid was utterly repulsive to him.


15 posted on 04/28/2018 5:55:30 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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To: Wolfie

OK, their parents will move...


16 posted on 04/28/2018 5:56:47 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Wolfie

“Liberty gets about 125 students but loses about 250 through open enrollment. More than half the incoming students are minorities, while most of those leaving are white, Nohra said.”

So stop importing school choice kids and it looks like your problem is solved.


17 posted on 04/28/2018 5:58:00 AM PDT by small farm girl (....)
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To: Wolfie

“Yo, I’m black. I’m leaving.”


18 posted on 04/28/2018 5:58:23 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Wolfie
Liberty takes away the liberty.

19 posted on 04/28/2018 6:06:42 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Kill: google,TWITTER,FACEBOOK,WaPo,Hollywd,CNN,NFL,BLM,CAIR,Antifa,SPLC,ESPN,NPR,NBA)
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To: Wolfie

Public education in OH is a mess. People have next to no control over spending or decision making.


20 posted on 04/28/2018 6:10:01 AM PDT by grania (President Trump, stop believing the Masters of War!)
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