| Magnet
schools are a significant part of the Nation's effort to achieve
voluntary desegregation in our Nation's schools.
Magnet schools
offer a wide range of distinctive programs that have served as models
for school improvement efforts.
"(M)agnet
school' means a public elementary school, public secondary school,
public elementary education center, or public secondary education center
that offers a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial
numbers of students of different racial backgrounds.
-From No
Child Left Behind,
Sections
5301, 5302 |
 |
The Magnet Schools
Assistance Program provides funds to schools and school districts to
develop magnet programs to eliminate, reduce, or prevent minority group
isolation, which is defined as a
condition in which minority group children constitute more than 50
percent of the enrollment of the school.
34 CFR 280.4(b). As stated in
section
5303 of NCLB, The Secretary, in accordance with this part, is
authorized to award grants to eligible local educational agencies, and
consortia of such agencies where appropriate, to carry out the purpose
of this part for magnet schools that are —
(1) part of an approved desegregation plan; and
(2) designed to bring students from different social, economic, ethnic,
and racial backgrounds together.
Available funding: "Magnet
schools provide a distinctive educational program for diverse student
populations. The President has requested $107.8 million for this program
in his 2007 budget. Of this amount, approximately $100 million would be
used to make new grants that would enable school districts to create and
open new magnet schools. Since 2001, close to $657 million has been
appropriated to support magnet school programs across the country. In
2006, 52 school districts, 218 schools, and approximately 150,000
students are benefiting from this program." (Quoted from the
U. S.
Department of Education Website.)
Use of race in the grant applications.
School districts that apply for magnet schools assistance grants must be
careful about the use of race as a qualifier, even if racial diversity
is a goal of the proposed magnet program. This language from the
Federal Register is instructive: Narrow Tailoring. The
purposes of the MSAP include the reduction, elimination or prevention of
minority group isolation. In the past grant cycle, all districts
submitting voluntary plans were able to achieve this purpose using
race-neutral admissions practices. If a district proposes to use race in
its voluntary plan, it must provide a justification for why race-neutral
approaches would not prove
effective. It must also demonstrate that its plan is adequate under
Title VI. In order for a voluntary plan involving a racial
classification to be adequate under Title VI, the plan must be narrowly
tailored to accomplish the objective of reducing, eliminating, or
preventing minority group isolation.
How WREN can help. The staff
of the West Regional Equity Network has experience in creating,
advising, and analyzing magnet schools and proposed magnet school
programs. WREN can provide technical assistance and professional
development to districts under court-ordered desegregation decrees and
those with voluntary desegregation programs. All three states in
Region IX have passed legislation authorizing magnet schools.
Please contact WREN at
WREN@email.arizona.edu or at 1-866-397-5979 |
