ADMINISTRATIVE FOXES IN EDUCATIONAL CHICKEN COOPS: An Examination of the Critique of Judicial Activism in School Desegregation Cases

Abstract

Recent arguments against the use of the courts as a route for fashioning and implementing complex school desegregation plans are evaluated in light of the experiences of one district where the courts and federal government did not assume an active role. The political consequences of nonenforcement are explored as are the methods employed by school officials to maintain their control over educational policy‐making. On the basis of this evidence, the author argues that an assertive judiciary is necessary, if desegregation policies and procedural reforms are to be successfully introduced.