Schools, our report on civic education, has been getting
quite a lot of press—most of it positive. But Chester Finn wrote
that has been provoking some discussion in the civic engagement world.
Over lunch today, my colleagues and I planned a deliberative Website
on the history of desegregation in Prince George’s County. We’re thinking
that the "intro" will show class photos from Northwestern
High School, each year gradually morphing into the next as the school
moves from segregated white, to white with one black student in 1955-8,
to today’s mosaic of ethnic groups. Next, visitors will be invited to
explore a page that our high school students have already constructed,
with a timeline of County history and interviews of participants in the
integration stuggle. Visitors will then be able to move to a page that
presents three contrasting answers to the question: "What should
the County have done in 1955 to address school segregation?" Finally,
they will be transferred to an online discussion forum to post their opinions.
A major goal is to help our students see history not only as the record
of state actions, powerful people, and downtrodded victims, but also as
a story of communities making difficult decisions.