Fifty-five years after the Brown decision, blacks and Latinos in American schools are more segregated than they have been in more than four decades.This is from a report by Gary Orfield of The Civil Rights Project titled "Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society." I find this extremely worrisome, especially since this trend could continue to worsen in the future. More from Dana Goldstein:
American schools are more segregated by race and class today than they were on the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, 43 years ago. The average white child in America attends a school that is 77 percent white, and where just 32 percent of the student body lives in poverty. The average black child attends a school that is 59 percent poor but only 29 percent white. The typical Latino kid is similarly segregated; his school is 57 percent poor and 27 percent white.
Overall, a third of all black and Latino children sit every day in classrooms that are 90 to 100 percent black and Latino.
If we truly want to achieve integration and diversity of race in our schools, this will require policy changes at various levels. For example, I know that Title 1 funds are well-intentioned. Schools with a higher percentage of poor children are given more funding to provide "additional academic support and learning opportunities to help low-achieving children master challenging curricula and meet state standards in core academic subjects." While I understand this logic, it does not account for the fact that there may be diminishing marginal returns on each dollar spent as a student population becomes increasingly disadvantaged. Also, the department of education seems to be providing a financial incentive for schools to increase their amount of low income students. Are there any financial incentives out there for schools that strive to attract students of different races and cultures? I have never heard of any.
I would be interested to see a study that shows if Title 1 funds have led to more segregation in our schools. I would also like to see the impact of Title 1 funds on student achievement. Please share if you are aware of any research on these topics.
First of all, this isn't true. MLK died before Green verus New Kent County that led to the subsequent massive segregation of southern public schools.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you about the financial incentives--pulling in more low income students will push out teachers and higher income students
Sarah Reber, my old boss, is actually looking at how title 1 funds desegregated public schools--the fed used to withhold these funds from districts that weren't desegregating. For more on title 1, see Sarah Reber's work and Nora Gordon's. I don't think it has led to more segregation, and neither do they.
Also, Gary Orfield is not a real Social Scientist. His research is not very good, and is more about advocacy than thoroughness. The Civil Rights project tends to ignore the unit of analysis. Obviously, across public school districts there is segregation that is de facto and largely determined by residential patterns. But within school districts was the segregation /civil rights issue that has dominated public policy since Brown v Borard of Education. And just looking at percentages doesn't actually tell you what is going on within a district. Say you have a school district that is only 30% white, for instance. Does that automatically mean that it is a segregated district? It would be alarming if the 30% of white students were concentrated in one school-THAT would be segregation, but if they were distributed evenly I wouldn't say so (as long as they are being exposed to minorities within schools). Deseg is my specialty, so please feel free to contact me with questions.
ReplyDeleteWhile I acknowledge the Civil Rights Project Sentiment, we need to stop blaming schools and start blaming people.
Whether or not MLK's death is the best date for comparison, do these statistics alarm you at all? I understand that segregation should be measured relatively, not absolutely, and high percentages may merely be a result of geography. However, I think more needs to be done in the arena of school choice and integration. Unfortunately, many students' quality of education is highly correlated with their zip code and race.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on further reading on the topic. What sort of work have done with desegregation?
I know I'm being an ass-
ReplyDeleteWell I've studied the effects of court-ordered desegregation and subsequently, the removal of court-ordered plans and how they affect segregation measures. Also, how t1 was used as an incentive for desegregation.
I agree with you about integration; i'm just baffled because education is a function of your zip code and I'm not sure how even school choice helps (historically this didn't help in terms of choice desegregation plans). Maybe you have a different idea??