The Fight to Desegregate Berkeley’s Public Schools  By Gilbert
G. Bendix Friday December 29, 2006  Both my wife Selina and I
were strong believers in public schools. It seems strange
therefore that, when the time came in 1958, we became private
school parents. There were three reasons.   Our oldest, Erica,
was born a month too late, and would have had to wait a full
additional year to be admitted to kindergarten in the public
school system. Also, the ‘neighborhood schools’ reflected the
racial housing segregation.   For that matter, it was the
official policy of the school system to assign minority teachers
only to schools in minority neighborhoods. Finally, Berkeley had
been unable to pass either a school bond or a school tax
measure, and the financial condition of the schools affected our
perception of their educational potential.   Why couldn’t a
great center of learning, like Berkeley, pass a school bond? Of
course it required a two-thirds majority, but should that be a
problem in Berkeley? It was, and pa