This morning, The Wall Street Journal takes up the issue of newcomers filling up the Plano Independent School District -- specifically, "a flood of poor, minority students" whose entry into the district prompted the contentious fight over redistricting. The district voted on a feeder alignment plan on December 15, which didn't sit well with all at all. But, writes Ana Campoy, Plano's dust-up will serve as template for what's to come nationwide, as it's both a look at the future and a reminder of the past:
Plano's situation evokes the fights decades ago in cities around the nation, when school integration often resulted in the flight of whites to suburbs.
This time, the disputes often are set in the suburbs themselves, driven by a flood of new arrivals -- many from Latin America -- who have rapidly reshaped school populations in districts across the country. The influx is making the country more diverse, with white children expected to be a minority by the next decade. That has meant more such conflicts in the most exclusive public-school districts.
