Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy (D) and Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D) introduced a bill this week that aims to help public schools become more racially diverse by providing grants for school districts to create voluntary school desegregation plans.
The bill, called the Stronger Together School Diversity Act of 2016, would provide $120 million in grants to allow school to pay for planning and implementation of desegregation plans, which may include the expansion of public school choice zones, developing evidence-based plans to increase racial and economic school diversity, and hiring and training teachers to support the kinds of schools that would attract suburban students to urban schools.
“As educators, we have a critical role to play in trying to knit together a country that still struggles with the deep scars and wounds of our history with race and class,” Education Secretary John King told the press. “One of the most powerful things we can do to bridge that gap and to increase empathy and mutual understanding is to have our children live, grow and learn together. More than 50 years after the Supreme Court abolished legalized segregation, some of our communities are more segregated by race and by class than they were 30 years ago.”
There’s a lot of evidence that segregated schools aren’t good for students.
African American students are more likely to make smaller gains in reading in segregated schools, according to a 2014 study conducted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Black and Hispanic students are also less likely to be taught by an experienced teacher and be offered classes in subjects like chemistry and calculus, according to data from the Department of Education. There are also higher rates of student expulsions and suspensions for black students in racially isolated schools, according to a report released earlier this year from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
School diversity doesn’t only provide benefits to students of color, however. More diverse schools also offer benefits for white students, such as improving their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. And King emphasized the importance of white students attending diverse schools at a time when the nation is becoming less and less white. “Desegregation increases the likelihood that students will succeed in their careers,” he said.
Some school districts have taken steps to desegregate their schools, whether on their own or through court decisions. Hartford, CT is often referenced as a model approach toward reducing racial isolation in schools, for example. Its lottery allows many students to attend many of the district’s magnet schools, which offer specializations such as art and drama, media or STEM subjects. And the city has an office dedicated to communicating with parents about their choices and about the school system’s lottery program.
Despite these efforts, there are still many students who are left behind. A report released last year from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, found that 73.6 percent of Hispanic students and 65.4 percent of black students were enrolled in intensely segregated schools in 2012–2013. Reducing the portion of students who go to segregated schools is also costly. According to the Hartford Courant, the state has spent $3 billion so far on these efforts.
Murphy said that, a couple months ago, he visited a high school in the north end of Hartford where the student population is mostly low-income and predominantly students of color. After speaking to students there, the issues with segregated schools were immediately obvious to him.
“I sat with some of the student leaders who were completely and totally conscious of the nature of their education they knew they were being robbed of,” Murphy said. “They knew they didn’t have exposure to AP credits and advanced learning. They knew that they were going to be less prepared for the workforce than if they had a more diverse learning environment.”