The goal of this curricular unit is to have middle school students in a diverse urban setting analyze the issues of gender based and race based schooling. After assessing their prior knowledge of and experience with these topics, the teacher will present readings and other resource materials to enhance their understanding of the history of public school education, the laws that affect its makeup and the differences segregation (gender or race based) can make upon the learning environment. The students will be asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various learning environments. Some of the lessons require student participation in classroom experiments.
The unit is designed to be taught over an extended period, for example a ten week marking period. The activities are geared toward the sixth grade curricular requirement of studying Connecticut History. The textbook presently used is
The People of Connecticut
by Warren J. Halliburton.
It should be noted that, although religiously segregated education has been a factor in United States history, the topic will not be discussed in detail or planned in this unit. If a student is interested in pursuing the subject, they should be encouraged to research it independently.
This unit does propose that students will have been given an overview of the history of education from the initial ideal of Americanization—to make us all one culture—to the prevalent ideas of multiculturalism—embracing and exploring our similarities and differences. The class will discuss the pros and cons of gender segregated schooling and race segregated schooling.
Early colonial life revolved around the family particularly the father. Early education was important, children were taught to read. The Connecticut General Court required most towns to support public education by 1644. In 1690 the General Court made it law that every child attend school. Girls were steered toward a career as a house wife, while boys were taught to farm and/or learn a craft. Women were considered inferior to men and a group of women in the 1820’s and 30’s set out to change these ideals by starting schools for girls only.
Similarly by the 17th century slave trading had begun, blacks were shipped to this country to perform laborious tasks. However in New England blacks were not numerous, most were house servants and farmers and a few were skilled laborers. Yet none them had political rights and were subject to very strict laws called black codes. Blacks were forbidden to further their education in the same schools as whites. This practice continued legally until Br
own v. Board of Education
in many regions of this country.
Upon completion of the introduction, students should have sufficient background to begin to analyze the issues involved with gender segregated schooling. Should there be separate schools for girls and boys? What subjects should be taught? Are there subjects that should be taught separately in coed schools? For example, should only boys be allowed to take shop classes? The discussion will begin with an early Connecticut example Crandall v. the State of Ct. The Crandall case will be covered in great detail. The issues in this case not only deal with female education but introduce the topic of racial segregation in education.
Prudence Crandall opened a girl’s boarding school in 1831 in the center of Canterbury, Connecticut. She enjoyed success until she made the decision to admit a black student Sarah Harris to her school. This action enraged many of the townspeople. A
boycott
was organized and goods such as food were not given to Prudence Crandall’s school. The white parents would not allow their daughters to attend. Prudence then turned her student body to all black girls.
Sarah Harris’
enrollment
in Prudence’s school changed Crandall’s
reputation
in a very significant way. Prudence Crandall was labeled an
abolitionist.
Her name became associated with such leaders of the anti-slavery movement as William Lloyd Garrison, editor of abolitionist newspaper entitled the “Liberator.” When she enrolled Sarah, Prudence showed that she believed that blacks should be given the same education as whites.
Less than a year after Sarah Harris began attending Prudence’s school, the Connecticut Legislature passed a law which became known as the “Black law.” This law stated that it was illegal for a black Connecticut resident to attend a private school in a Connecticut town unless that town approved.
The passing of the “Black Law” made Prudence a criminal, therefore on June 27, 1833, Prudence Crandall was arrested. She pleaded not guilty and after a year long court battle, Prudence’s case was dismissed on a
technicality
. However, Prudence’s school closed on September 10, 1834. This closing followed a violent attack on the school during the evening of September 9th, at which time windows were smashed, and the students forced to leave.
Shortly before the closing of her school, Prudence married the Reverend Calvin Philleo. Prudence and Calvin eventually moved to Illinois, ending Prudence’s efforts to educate blacks equally with whites in Connecticut.
The discussion should then turn from all female institution to all male schools being challenged to admit females.
Shannon Richel Faulkner was initially admitted (conditionally-all cadets are given this status) to begin classes in the fall of 1993. When her female gender was discovered The Citadel withdrew their acceptance citing their 150 year old history as a male only institution. Ms Faulkner sued The Citadel for violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, filing in March of 1993,
The District court reviewed the case and issued a preliminary injunction ordering Faulkner be admitted to day classes but not to the school’s Corps of Cadets. In May of 1993 the South Carolina General Assembly passed a joint resolution that affirmed a state policy of favoring single-gender educational institutions. The resolution declared that
South Carolina has historically supported and continues to support single gender educational institutions as a matter of public policy based on legitimate state interests where sufficient demand has existed for particular single-gender programs thereby justifying the expenditure of public funds to support such programs.
2
The General Assembly also formed a committee to examine the need for single-gender educational opportunities for women and to submit recommendations for consideration at the beginning of the 1994 session.
On July 8, 1993 Faulkner petitioned to attend day classes pending litigation and on August 12th she was admitted.
The students will be told that the initial case was only the beginning and the two subsequent cases will be discussed. They will be informed that The Citadel proposed a parallel program for the South Carolina Institute of Leadership for Woman (SCIL) at Converse College. The main issues of the case are—is it constitutional for a state to have men-only military school and should such a school receive public funds? The court stated that single-sex education is pedagogically justified and educationally beneficial.
The students will be given background information on the 14th Amendment. It was adopted after the Civil War to provide newly freed blacks with the same protection of the laws as that afforded to other persons. However the clause accommodates the notion that people are created differently, i.e. statutes limiting drivers’ licenses to 16 and over, drinking to 21 and over and other gender classifications like men being required to register for the draft but not women.
During the discussion of the Citadel case the students will be directed to another case that was cited to help explain the reasons why women should not be allowed to an all-male school. The United States sued the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1991, challenging Virginia’s maintenance of a military institute exclusively for males. The initial case judgment was entered for Virginia, the United States appealed.
Virginia Military Institute (VMI) was established in 1839 by the Virginia legislature as a four year military college and is still financially supported by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The military training program is based upon a methodology that reduced the cadets in training to an as-equal-as possible status by a detailed system. The cadets are subjected to varying amounts of physical and mental adversity, stress, denial of all privacy, regulated behavior and a strict code of conduct.
3
The second court vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the district court: (1) to require the defendants to formulate, adopt and implement a plan that conforms with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, (2) to establish appropriate timetables, and (3) to oversee the implementation of the plan.
4
The case eventually was decided by the Supreme Court in July of 1996. The Court’s decision was that gender based education is discriminatory and violated the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause. Therefore, VMI must admit women or stop taking public funds. VMI decided to postpone their decision to go private until September of 1996. The students should be given the articles related to VMI’s final decision.
1991 was also a big year for single gender race based schooling. The Detroit Board of Education authorized the creation of the Male Academy in February of 1991. The school opened in coed form that September. The City of Milwaukee opened the African-American Immersion School also in September 1991.
These programs seek to address the needs of African-American males by emphasizing African-American culture, rigorous discipline, high achievement, individual counseling and community involvement.
5
Most cities when planning schools for boys wanted to avoid the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, so they designed the programs to admit girls. Detroit did not do this and they were taken to court. The court found that confronting “ the black male crisis is an important objective recognized by the Equal Protection Clause, but the exclusion of girls does not further the achievement of that objective.”
6
If someone had pursued the racial segregation aspect of these schools it would have been more difficult to justify in constitutional terms.
The Milwaukee system avoided both issues by planning for girls and starting the Immersion School in an existing school attended by almost all black students anyway. Enrollment in the schools was voluntary rather than forced which also would lessen any potential racial segregation case.
The interrelated concepts used to justify the schools—group empowerment, cultural identify and cultural victimization—are also used to criticize the existence of such schools. In other words, separating students because of these differences promotes the stereotypes and stigmatizes these individuals by asserting that they have characteristics determined solely by their race.
7
While others feel by creating schools that affirm group bonds and empower the community, and everyone within the community who has experienced cultural victimization may choose to enroll in the schools, then separate is not inherently equal, it may instead be a means to challenge dominant groups and become equal.
The schools have geared their curricula toward black males in crisis, but they must also recognize that black girls in urban environments are also facing crisis. They must be careful not to pit males against females or diminish the needs of either group.
The review of this topic with students in the classroom should be make for interesting discussion of both gender and race issues and why race takes priority over gender in the court determination of cases involving the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Regulations that classify by gender are not subject to the same scrutiny under equal protection as is a regulation that classifies on the basis of race or national origin. Two cases can be presented to show how classification can be treated differently-
Loving v.
Virginia
and
Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan
.
The culminating activity would have the students plan a debate to argue both sides of the Citadel or VMI case. The debate will held possibly for another class. After the debate the class will discuss the final outcome of the Citadel case and the June 1996 decision and the VMI final decision.
Lesson One: Prudence Crandall
Objectives
-
To identify the gender and race issues presented in the case.
-
To discuss and determine which of the two dominant issues seemed more important—an all girls’ school or the girls’ race.
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To assess the student’s comprehension of the written lesson.
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To introduce legal terms.
Students will be given the information previously stated in this paper about Prudence Crandall in a written format, the underlined words will be vocabulary for discussion and matching on a brief quiz given to assess their comprehension.