And, several studies have indicated that while highly correlated, socioeconomic status is not a proxy for race, and will not alone lead to the creation or maintenance of racially integrated schools. For ex:
http://theintegrationreport.wordpress.com/2008/03/
http://scintegration.blogspot.com/2007/06/wake-countys-socio-economic-integration.html

For many reasons, many low income families don’t want to put their children on buses to affluent north side schools. Families whose children are in schools that do not meet AYP already have the right to move their children to high performing schools. CPS already has a Minority-to-Majority transfer program. But these options are really only easy to navigate if you are an informed and empowered consumer. Many low income families lack the resources to navigate the system and send their children to schools so far from their homes.

Why do you think it was so hard for Coonley to achieve racial diversity in their first two gifted classes that were set up last year? The surrounding neighborhoods are largely white and middle income. It’s wonderful that CPS is setting up choice and new programs, but there is clearly inequity as far as who gets served citywide.

It’s presumed to be a sure thing that Judge Kocoras will overturn the consent decree since in a twist of irony, the Supreme Court recently issued a conservative ruling that assignments to school based on race alone is unconstitutional.

It’s my pollyannna hope that CPS (read as: the Mayor) will engage the larger community– parents, educators, civic leaders and academia– for facilitative input into a plan for diversity that takes into account a mix of the right variables– i.e., poverty, race, language diversity, special needs, level of education of the parents, etc. As demographics and school performance changes, this formula would need to change too.