ERIC Number: ED319834
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1990-Apr
Pages: 17
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Racial Equity and Local School Council Elections. Draft.
Lewis, James H.
A comparison of the racial composition of parent, community, and teacher representatives elected in autumn 1989 to Local School Councils (LSCs) in Chicago to the racial/ethnic mix of the populations they represent indicates significant racial disparity on a city-wide basis. Statistical data were analyzed from 503 of a total of 540 schools (about 90 percent). The following findings are reported: (1) whites won about 8 percent more of the parent seats than would have been predicted on the basis of student enrollment patterns and blacks won about 10 percent more of the community representative seats than would have been predicted on the basis of their proportion of the population of neighborhoods surrounding school areas; (2) the tendency for white overrepresentation as parent representatives was primarily a result of elections in the Northeast section of the city and in schools with comparatively high levels of voluntary transportation; (3) the tendency for black overrepresentation as community representatives was an across-the-board phenomenon; (4) Subdistrict Councils are racially representative based on racial proportions of elected LSCs; (5) based on Subdistrict Council memberships, blacks are overrepresented by about 20 percent as delegates from the subdistrict councils to the School Board Nominating Commission; and (6) whites are overrepresented among teacher, community, and principals relative to student body percentages. Statistical data are included on 10 graphs, 5 tables, and 1 map. (FMW)
Descriptors: Blacks, Citizen Participation, Community Control, Elections, Elementary Secondary Education, Hispanic Americans, Politics of Education, Racial Composition, School Based Management, School Councils, Statistical Analysis, Urban Schools, Whites
Chicago Urban League, 4510 South Michigan, Chicago, IL 60653.
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Chicago Urban League, IL. Dept. of Research.
Identifiers - Location: Illinois (Chicago)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A


