The Model School System
Federal Education Policy and the Racial Politics of Schooling in the District of Columbia, 1961-1977
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3618911 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Erica S Sterling (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 109 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 448-476 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1548-1867 • E-ISSN: 2153-5086 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/727592 |
| OpenAlex | W4402769041 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson called for a $10 million investment in a new “major model school experiment” in Washington, DC: the Anacostia Community School Project (ACSP). Examining the ACSP offers a rich intellectual history of federal education politics from which two simultaneous realities emerge. I argue that alongside the landmark legislation and case law, federal bureaucrats adopted the language of “innovation” to troubleshoot education reform in large Black urban communities in the 1960s; in doing so, they ultimately tied educational equity to riot prevention and crime politics. Black Washingtonians also understood that a properly nurtured education system could render significant social, political, and economic dividends for their communities. The community of Anacostia, located in the southeast quadrant of the District of Columbia, fashioned the project into a pathway toward social welfare, articulating a holistic vision of education attuned to the needs of the whole person and the whole community
Political science · Politics · Sociology · Canadian Identity and History · Critical Race Theory in Education · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Law · Public Administration
| Highly cited | No |
|---|