Selected Demographics

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Racial and Economic Segregation in Schools
Barrier to Quality and Equality in
EducationBaris Gumus-Dawes
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Main Points of the Talk

• Racial and economic segregation is intensifying
  in the regions schools.
• Segregation in schools harms students and
  undermines quality and equality in education.
• There is no substitute for the benefits of
  integrated schools.
• We can do something about reducing school
  segregation in the Twin Cities region.

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Racial and Economic Segregation in the
Regions Schools Intensified Rapidly Since the
1990s
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Racial Segregation

• Majority of elementary schools in Minneapolis are
  racially identifiable by a minority group.

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Economic Segregation

• Majority of Minneapolis elementary schools are
  majority poor.
• Concentration of poverty mirrors the
  concentration of students by race and ethnicity.

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Racial Segregation is Not Limited to the
Central CitiesThe Case of Southwest Suburbs
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Economic Segregation Mirrors Racial
Segregation in the SuburbsThe Case of Southwest
Suburbs
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• Racial segregation, which affects students of all
  races and ethnicities, is increasing rapidly
  among students of color.

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• Students of color in the Twin Cities region
  attend segregated schools with high
  concentrations of poverty, while a vast majority
  of white students attend schools with very low
  poverty rates.

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Racial Segregation Restricts Access to Good
Schools, Good Jobs, and Decent Economic Prospects
in Life
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Racial Segregation Hurts Students

• Racial segregation hurts students of color by
  exiling them to economically segregated schools
  (schools with high concentrations of poverty).

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Characteristics of High-Poverty Schools that
Undermine Quality of Education

• Less qualified and less experienced teachers due
  to high turnover among teachers
• Limited curricula taught at less challenging
  levels, which limits educational and career
  options
• Absence of positive peer competition and
  influence, which lowers educational expectations

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Harms of Attending High-Poverty Schools

• Lower academic achievement.
• Higher dropout rates associated with higher
  unemployment, lower earnings, higher
  imprisonment, unstable families and social
  structures.
• Increased risk of being poor as an adult.

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Segregation Undermines Academic Achievement and
Attainment
Graduation rates in the Minneapolis school
district declined as racial and economic
segregation in the district increased from 1992
to 2005.
The citys 55 graduation rate compares poorly
with rates of 88-100 percent in adjacent
districts.
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Benefits of Integration

• Integration promotes equality in educational
  outcomes
• ¾ of difference in academic achievement is
  explained by socio-economic status of peers
  rather than difference in school facilities and
  programs
• of poor children in schools is an extremely
  strong predictor of inequality in educational
  outcomes

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Benefits of Integration

• Integration increases quality of education for
  all types of students.
• All types of students do better in economically
  diverse schools and all types of students do
  worse in schools of concentrated poverty.
• Poor (low-income) students attending low-poverty
  schools perform better than non-poor students
  attending high-poverty schools both poor and
  non-poor students have lower achievement in
  high-poverty schools.

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Benefits of Integration

1. Integration offers access to social networks and
   interpersonal skills that in turn may provide
   access, information, contact, and
   sponsorshipimportant ingredients for educational
   and career advancement. It also provides role
   models, opportunities, and validation.

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There is No Substitute for the Benefits of
Integrated Schools
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• More spending alone, without racial and economic
  integration, cannot provide students with
  environments proven to support educational
  success.
• Offering choice through charter schools is not
  the answer since majority of charter schools in
  the region are more racially and economically
  segregated than traditional public schools.

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Minnesota State Education Finance Formula
Allocates More Funding To Schools with High
Proportions of Poor Students
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More Spending is not the Answer
State average 8,516 per student Minneapolis
District average 11,393 per student
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Charter Schools are Racially and Economically
More Segregated than Traditional Public Schools
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Economic Segregation in Charter Schools

• Poverty enrollments in MN charter schools (54)
  are nearly twice that of traditional public
  schools (29).
• In the central cities, charter school poverty
  enrollments are nearly 80 (10 or 11 percentage
  points higher than the already high poverty
  concentrations in these districts traditional
  public schools).

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Racial Segregation in Charter Schools

• Growth in charter schools due to non-white
  enrollment ? growing racial segregation in
  charter schools.
• In 2004, 53 of charter school students were
  non-white, compared with only 19 of all public
  school students.
• Black students make up one-third of Minnesotas
  charter school enrollments, yet are only eight
  percent of the States students.

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• Majority of charter schools in the Twin Cities
  are racially identifiable.
• Nearly half of the charter schools in Minneapolis
  and St. Paul are culturally centered, or
  primarily serve one non-white population.

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We Can Do Something About It

• The Choice is Yours Program already offers
  opportunities for racial and economic integration
  in schools.
• It needs to be expanded in scope to avoid racial
  and economic resegregation in receiving schools.

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