Elected officials who don't want to discuss the fact that New York City has the most racially segregated school system in the United States may soon have no choice: A state appeals court has said anti-discrimination lawsuits can go forward.
The lawsuit accuses New York of maintaining a “racial pipeline” through which talent programs and selection methods funnel many students of color into “neglected schools with poor and unacceptable outcomes.” If successful, the landmark legal challenge could completely transform the admissions process for selective public schools.
At the same time, in Brooklyn, a public school district serving both poor and affluent neighborhoods demonstrated that school integration was possible without rancor or a mass exodus of white families if parents and school officials valued integration on its own merits.
As my colleague Troy Crosson explained last week, Brooklyn's 15th School District reorganization began several years ago when parents wanted to consolidate the city's most homogeneous middle schools. “Selective admissions was abolished,” Crosson wrote. “Instead, every child was given a lottery number, and schools adopted goals for enrolling a certain number of disadvantaged children.” Middle schools reserve seats for children from low-income families, those living in transitional housing, or those who are still learning English. Crucially, schools select new students by lottery, not based on grades, attendance, or other criteria.
As a result, the district's middle school, which was the second most socioeconomically segregated, rose to 19th out of the city's 32 neighborhoods. Teachers and students said they were forming friendships across income lines, and a more diverse middle school student body was taking the state algebra test.
Parent leader Antonia Martinelli told The Times: “We've been able to reverse the 'good school/bad school' narrative. Parents understand that every school is a great school.”
Integration is no panacea, and challenges remain, but this example shows that breaking down racial segregation need not involve bitterness or decades of delay.
