Laura Meckler's 'Dream Town,'' a history of racial integration in Shaker Heights schools, is vividly reported, beautifully written and deeply relevant to the current political and cultural moment.
Shaker Heights native Laura Meckler has written her first book, "Dream Town." In it, the Washington Post reporter takes a look at Shaker Heights' housing, education and history through a lens of race.CLEVELAND, Ohio — The East Side Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights has made headlines for decades over the willingness of residents paying some of the highest real estate taxes in Ohio to confront challenges posed by racial integration in the community’s public schools.
Step by step, and decade by decade, Meckler unspools the history of Shaker Heights as the successor to a 19th-century utopian agricultural community founded by the North Union Shakers in what they called “The Valley of God’s Pleasure.” In the ‘70s, amid debates over how best to integrate its schools, Shaker Heights voluntarily embraced busing as a solution to racial imbalances among its nine elementary schools.
Personal disclosure: Before moving to Cleveland in 2018, my wife and I were Shaker Heights parents with children in the school system from 2000 to 2008. I recognize the names of many of the people in Meckler’s book; a few were neighbors and acquaintances but none of the teachers she discusses taught our children. As a reporter for The Plain Dealer, I did not cover Shaker schools. Nevertheless, Meckler’s story rings true, based on my personal experience.
The fallout from that discussion included the school administration’s decision to put Podl on leave during a monthlong investigation. The district concluded that Podl had violated its policy against bullying. It issued a formal reprimand and shared that information with parents. Podl was offered a chance to participate in a “restorative practices’' session with students and parents who had participated in the school’s investigation, after which she could return to teaching.
McDowell criticized the entire school system for ignoring conditions that, for decades, had led to massively imbalanced educational outcomes among Black and white students. She said, more or less, that implicit biases among teachers were at fault.in The Washington Post. What’s new in the book is the highly detailed and balanced reporting that illuminates the entire episode.
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