Table Of ContentFIVE MILES AWAY, A WORLD APART
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FIVE MILES AWAY, A WORLD APART
One City, Two Schools, and the Story of
Educational Opportunity in Modern America
JAMES E. RYAN
1
2010
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ryan, James E. (James Edward)
Five miles away, a world apart : two schools, one city, and the story of educational
opportunity in modern America / James E. Ryan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-532738-0
1. Segregation in education—Law and legislation—United States. 2. Education—United States—Regional
disparities 3. Discrimination in education—Law and legislation—United States.
4. School integration—Law and legislation—United States. I. Title.
KF4155.R93 2010
344.73'0798—dc22 2009033219
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my parents
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I received a great deal of help on this book, from beginning to end. I would like
to start by thanking the roughly eighty individuals I interviewed. This group
included principals, teachers, parents, students, legislators, school board mem-
bers, newspaper reporters, school fi nance experts, and attorneys. Except when
they asked to remain anonymous or speak off the record, adults I interviewed
are cited by name in the endnotes. I have not identifi ed any students by name,
in order to protect their privacy. To a person, those I interviewed were gracious
and informative, for which I remain extremely grateful.
I am especially indebted to the principals, teachers, students, and parents at
Thomas Jefferson and Freeman High Schools. Edward H. Pruden was the princi-
pal at Freeman High during most of the time I was researching the book. He was
always willing to answer questions, and his insights into Tee-Jay and Freeman
were unparalleled. Indeed, I would not have written about Tee-Jay and Freeman
were it not for him. Barbara Ulschmid was the principal at Tee-Jay during the
same time period and she, like Dr. Pruden, was very generous with her time. This
was also true of their successors: Anne L. Poates, who took over as principal at
Freeman, and Tanya Roane, who became principal at Tee-Jay, found time in their
hectic schedules to answer my questions and accommodate my visits.
William Russell Flammia, who taught at Tee-Jay from 1966 until 2000, was an
invaluable resource on the history of Tee-Jay. Barry Gabay was equally helpful in
providing insight into present-day Tee-Jay, allowing me to observe him teach
and to speak with his students, who were a remarkably thoughtful, insightful,
and delightful group. The students and teachers I met and interviewed at Free-
man were also welcoming and informative, as were the parents of students at
both schools. I could not have written this book without their help.
I received outstanding research assistance from a large group of talented law
students at the University of Virginia, my home institution, and Harvard Univer-
sity, where I visited for a semester during the course of writing this book. This
group included: Doug Bouton, Joseph Caissie, Lisa Chadderdon, Kate Foss, Jenna
Gallagher, Ross Goldman, John Kabealo, Mike Lecaroz, Matt Madden, Nick
M atteson, David Mordkoff, Louise Raines, Mike Riordan, Abby Shafroth, Megan
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Strackbein, and Katherine Twomey. Stephen W. Murphy proofread the entire
manuscript twice and spared me some embarrassing mistakes. Angela Ciolfi , a
former student who is currently a fi rst-rate child advocacy attorney, helped me
untangle the politics and mechanics of school funding in Virginia.
The reference librarians at the University of Virginia Law School, who as a
group are unrivaled in higher education in their combination of talent, speed,
professionalism, and good cheer, were their usual perfect selves. Jon Ashley, Ben
Doherty, Kristin Glover, Kent Olson, and Cathy Palombi went above and
beyond on numerous occasions to track down references and help fi nd data.
Michelle Morris deserves special mention for, among countless other things,
putting together a team of undergraduate research assistants who pored
through the Richmond papers to help tell the story of the fi rst two chapters.
Michelle also produced a research memorandum that was longer—and bet-
ter—than the chapters they supported.
I presented portions of the book at a number of faculty workshops and con-
ferences, including those at Harvard Law School, the University of California,
Berkeley, School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, the University
of Michigan Law School, Stanford Law School, and the University of Virginia
School of Law. Thanks to those who invited me and to those who attended and
asked questions or offered suggestions.
A number of friends and colleagues at Virginia and elsewhere read all or
portions of the manuscript and provided very useful feedback. Steve Gillon
offered help with the book proposal itself and provided support at every stage,
consistently pressing me make the book more accessible to a general audience.
Toby Heytens offered some very good suggestions regarding the chapter on
standards and testing. Rich Schragger and Risa Goluboff did the same with
regard to the fi rst three chapters and helped convince me to weave more of Tee-
Jay and Freeman into the narrative. Scott Shapiro read portions of the manu-
script and entertained hours of conversation about the book, which benefi ted
me greatly. Michael Heise and Martha Minow each read relatively early versions
of the manuscript and offered advice and encouragement. Jack Martin of Rich-
mond also read the manuscript and offered suggestions from the perspective of
someone who has lived through some of the experiences I describe.
Ted White read a rough draft of the manuscript and suggested, with his charac-
teristic combination of insight and honesty, that I needed to fi gure out what the
books was about. John Jeffries then read the manuscript and told me what the book
should be about, which was right on the money. He also offered, as usual, some
elegant writing suggestions. James Forman read the entire manuscript and focused
like a laser beam on the weak points and inconsistencies in my argument, forcing
me to confront what I had chosen to ignore.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
Daryl Levinson read the entire manuscript, endured countless questions
and discussions, and offered a number of insightful suggestions and incisive
comments. Perhaps most usefully, he suspended his critical judgment just long
enough to provide enthusiastic support at some key moments. Mike Klarman
read the manuscript with a tremendous amount of care, and he spared neither
criticism nor praise, both of which were welcome. Mike is the primary reason
I am a law professor in the fi rst place, and his own scholarship, to me, remains
the gold standard. His help and encouragement on this project were invaluable.
Last but not least, Liz Magill read the manuscript and rightfully focused my
attention on the beginning and end of the book. She also provided strongly
needed help at the very end of the editing process. I am not sure I would have
fi nished the book without her help.
David McBride and Jessica Ryan at Oxford were wonderful editors. I am
grateful for their support and for their expert advice. I am especially thankful
for the patience, fl exibility, and good humor they showed a fi rst-time author.
Thanks to Katie for serving as sounding board, editor, and best friend, and
for invariably saying “that sounds good” (instead of “please stop talking about
this”) whenever I ran yet another idea past her. Most of all, thanks for caring
about this book and for handling a million and one different things so that
I could focus on just this one. Thanks to Will, Sam, Ben, and Phebe for remind-
ing me why public education matters so much and why my own work does not,
at least as compared to some of my other responsibilities.
This book is dedicated to my parents, Jim and Sheila Ryan. My father died
before I began writing the book, and my mother died before I fi nished it. Although
neither attended college, they valued education more than anyone I know. They
would not agree with everything written in the book, but they would certainly
understand—and, I hope, appreciate—the motivation behind it.
Description:How is it that, half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, educational opportunities remain so unequal for black and white students, not to mention poor and wealthy ones? In his important new book, Five Miles Away, A World Apart, James E. Ryan answers this question by tracing the fortunes of
