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This article is a study of the social construction of school desegregation in Los Angeles, California. Particular emphasis is placed on how magnet schools were presented to area residents in the local press over a period of 3 decades. I use quantitative and qualitative techniques with 355 newspaper articles. I find that magnet school were originally discussed as part of a larger desegregation program, but that references to desegregation declined steadily. Magnet schools are now discussed as providers of academic excellence, and desegregation issues are largely ignored. This follows the current trend in political and academic circles, in which the rhetoric surrounding education is increasingly focused on standards and accountability rather than equality and access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]