I was thinking about writing on education reform on an undergraduate level, but I haven't been able to find more than two quality sources of research for my paper. This is also a problem because both sources are written by the same author. So I'm thinking about going with another topic--desegregation in the school systems. This idea was sparked by a writer's conference I went too. The keynote speaker talked about a book he wrote on Emmitt Till. The author went down to research his book in the Mississippi Delta where the events with Emmitt had transpired. He mentioned something in passing that caught my attention. He mentioned how he walked into the public schools to talk with local people about their knowledge of the events. He described how the school system still seemed like it was segregated regardless of all the legislation that had been passed on desegregation.

I looked up a few articles on contemporary desegregation, and to my surprise I found out many judges today are reversing the desegregation standards that have been in practice the past half a century. Judges throughout the country are ruling for local schools to take in their local neighborhood kids. The problem is in many of these areas the white kids are now predominantly in one school, and the minorities are predominantly in another. It was counter-intuitive to me, however, that several of the parents of the minority children were arguing that the desegregation legislation had served its purpose, and now, they believe that by getting rid of the desegregation legislation, their children will perform better if the legislation is over-turned. A good WATCO for this would be WATCO over-turning desegregation legislation on the academic performance of minorities in the American school system?