Equity & Diversity

Va. Lawmakers Plan Scholarships For Victims of 1959 School Closings

By David J. Hoff — March 17, 2004 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Virginia legislators have endorsed a plan to compensate those who were denied public schooling during the state’s era of resistance to desegregation 45 years ago.

Now, advocates of the bill are trying to ensure the measure is adequately funded.

The state Senate unanimously passed a bill March 9 that would establish scholarships for anyone who was denied schooling when a community shut its public schools rather than comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s orders to desegregate them.

The House of Delegates unanimously approved its version of the bill in January.

“This is putting resources back in the hands of those individuals—educational resources that were wrongfully denied,” said Delegate Viola O. Baskerville, the Richmond Democrat who sponsored the House version of the measure.

Most of those who are eligible lived in Prince Edward County, which closed its public schools from 1959 until 1964 rather than comply with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. The county school system was the target of one of the four cases covered by the landmark school desegregation decision.

Bill supporters estimate that 2,000 people who were caught up in the closures—the youngest of whom are now in their mid-40s—would qualify for scholarships for postsecondary education, earning a General Educational Development certificate, or adult-literacy instruction.

Sufficient Funding?

The scholarships would be useful even in rural Prince Edward County because it has a small state university in its largest town, and a community college near its border with an adjacent county, according to Ken Woodley, the editor of the Farmville Herald, the county’s largest newspaper. He is a promoter of the scholarships.

While the plan’s backers are heartened by the support from legislators, they’re still campaigning to make sure it gets enough funding. The Senate version of the state’s two-year budget includes $100,000 for the scholarships. The House plan does not fund them.

That could change, Mr. Woodley said, if Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, uses his line-item budgeting power to raise the amount for the scholarships. Ms. Baskerville said the state should provide $2 million for the scholarships.

“We’re going to continue to put the press on for $2 million,” she said.

A House-Senate conference committee will need to compromise on other differences in the bills. Under the Senate version, children of those who were shut out of school would also be eligible for scholarships. The House bill covers just those who were excluded. Ms. Baskerville supports the Senate version because the House committee amended her version to restrict eligibility and set a “sunset” date for the scholarships.

‘Massive Resistance’

In the wake of the Brown decision and other desegregation orders, Virginia leaders tried to organize so-called massive resistance to the federal mandates. Only Prince Edward County participated.

Other counties closed their schools as well, though for shorter periods, and people denied education in those locations would be covered by both bills as well.

The rural county, about 60 miles west of Richmond, closed its public schools in 1959. The white community established a private academy that admitted only whites. With the help of the American Friends Service Committee, some African-American children were moved to other communities where they could attend public schools. But most black children received no formal schooling for five years.

The county reopened its public schools in 1964 only after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that its resistance to desegregation was unconstitutional. (“At the Crossroads,” March 24, 1999.)

Last year, Ms. Baskerville, a black lawmaker whose district includes the state Capitol in Richmond, sponsored a resolution in which lawmakers expressed “profound regret” for the closure of the Prince Edward County schools.

But Mr. Woodley, the Farmville editor, said that sentiment wasn’t enough.

In a series of editorials starting a year ago, he proposed scholarships as compensation for people who were affected by the school shutdown.

“We’re going further than saying we’re sorry,” said Mr. Woodley, who is white. In the 1950s, the Farmville Herald editorialized against the Supreme Court decisions and for the county’s resistance to them. “We’re saying we’re sorry and we’re going to do something about it.”

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Anti-DEI Policies Are Ramping Up—With Big Implications for College Access
A new study looks at how students of color could be affected by policies that ban DEI efforts.
6 min read
Three high school boys and one high school girl work together on an experiment in AP chemistry class.
Three high school boys and one high school girl work together on an experiment in AP chemistry class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Equity & Diversity Opinion How Education Leaders Should Respond to the Anti-DEI Crowd
Decades of essential equity-based work is under threat in our schools today, warns Joshua P. Starr.
Joshua P. Starr
4 min read
202503 Opinion Starr DEI 2155439727
iStock/Getty Images
Equity & Diversity A Wave of New Legislation Aims to Ban DEI in Public Schools
State legislators have introduced measures that would prohibit schools from maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion offices.
7 min read
Vector illustration concept of people being denied entrance, stopped at the door.
DigitalVision Vectors
Equity & Diversity Opinion ‘Diversity’ Isn’t a Dirty Word: Why Politicians Are Scapegoating DEI
The language may be new, but we’ve seen these same tactics used to attack racial equality for decades.
Janel George
5 min read
Flag of the USA, painted on grunge distressed planks of wood, signifying dismantling or building back up
Yamac Beyter/iStock