Word: sheff
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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There are few better measures of how tortuous the journey toward racial equality has become since 1954, when the Supreme Court struck down segregation, than the history of last week's ruling in Sheff v. O'Neill. The case was filed in the state courts in 1989 because civil rights lawyers had concluded that there was no hope of redress from the conservative U.S. Supreme Court. Connecticut's constitution, on the other hand, explicitly guarantees the right to a free, unsegregated public education, which made the state a more promising venue. "We were looking for new ways to breathe life...
...that for six years has been closely followed by civil rights leaders and educators, the Connecticut Superior Court ruled last week that because the state did not create the segregation that now holds sway, it need not take measures to dismantle it. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case, Sheff v. O'Neill, who claim that the students are being denied the equal educational opportunity guaranteed by the state constitution, plan to appeal. "As we're ending the 20th century, it looks like de facto segregation will become the new segregation," says John Brittain, a University of Connecticut law professor...
What complicates Sheff v. O'Neill--which was filed in 1989 on behalf of 17 students--is that Connecticut, unlike many states, has tried to address the problems of its urban schools. In order to compensate for inequities in local property-tax revenues, the state has poured millions into the Hartford system, which now spends more per student--nearly $9,000--than almost any other district. The money, though, has not begun to make a difference; Hartford's student test scores consistently rank last in the state, and continue to fall. Says Hartford Mayor Michael Peters: "Does it make...
...pupils across district lines, which the Supreme Court has limited except in cases of deliberate discrimination. But for now Hartford's students remain trapped in pockets of poverty, where no amount of money or reforms can overcome the obstacles to achievement. Nevertheless, Hartford city councilwoman Elizabeth Horton Sheff, whose son Milo gave his name to the school case when he was in the fourth grade, has been gratified by the response to the court's ruling. "People are concerned-even the state's lawyer said there was a problem. We've shaken the consciousness of a community. To me, that...
...Sheff mixes interesting personal details with colorful snippets of writing. The Japanese wife of the head of Nintendo of America learns English by watching TV and "developed an accent decidedly reminiscent of Peter Falk's Columbo." Her husband has an odd habit of falling asleep in strange places -- including on a fairway during a major golf tournament as Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino teed off. And the book claims Dustin Hoffman wanted to play the computer character Mario in the movie adaptation because his kids loved the game (the movie is currently in theaters with Bob Hoskins in the lead...