Pupil Placement

The latest and perhaps the most successful device engineered by Southerners to slow down the process of integration, the "pupil placement" law, received approval from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last week. While this concession prevented the outbreak of Little Rock-type violence in Arkansas' Dollarway School District, where the law was contested, it raises the question of whether this law will prevent anything but isolated or "token" integration or whether temporary acceptance of "pupil placement" will make total desegregation more acceptable later on.

At present, a Negro child wishing to go to a white school must exhaust all possible state administrative channels before appealing to the Federal Courts on the grounds of segregation. If his parents are not determined or wealthy enough to undertake the long administrative and judicial grind necessary for a change, he must accept placement on the basis of "intelligence," "health and morals," or "maintenance. . . of established social and psychological relationships with other pupils and with teachers."

As yet, the Supreme Court has not heard any arguments on the Dollarway case and similar cases. It is faced with the uncomfortable alternatives of denying school boards the right to approach desegregation in their own fashion (The NAACP is currently trying to force a North Carolina town into producing an overall desegregation plan), or allowing a skillful legal device to sabotage the spirit of its 1954 ruling. The question of whether assignment by race is justified when accompanied by the right to appeal for transfer is central in the case. If it is justified, Southern schools will have their "pioneers," Jackie Robinsons of education, indefinitely and the Federal Courts will be faced with dozens of "transfer" cases for years to come.

While the "pupil placement law" may keep Southerners happy for a while, any realistic plan for desegregation must envision the Supreme Court requiring community desegregation plans sooner or later. "Pupil placement" is a useful expedient, but it must not be allowed to remain more than a temporary phenomenon.