Policy Options
Even after repeated attempts to desegregate our public schools, segregation still exists. Policymakers and government officials have devised numerous strategies and policies to reduce segregation within the schools. A sampling of these are listed below:
Increasing School Choice with Charter Schools and/or Magnet Programs:
One argument for decreasing segregation is increasing school choice. Predominately black inner-city schools typically perform poorer than white suburban schools. If parents have more options, black parents can choose to avoid failing inner-city public schools. Creating charter schools, for example, is one common method of creating school choice. Most charter schools allow any student to apply, and, typically, students are chosen via a lottery system. More charter schools could potentially create more integration throughout the school districts if black parents and white parents use school choice to their advantage. However, studies are inconclusive about the actual effectiveness of charter schools in reducing segregation. A study conducted in North Carolina in 2006 indicated that segregation increased with charter schools because parents chose charter schools for their children with similar racial compositions (Bifulco).
Magnet schools can also create school choice. These programs try and draw a specific student; for example, some magnet programs might target white students, whereas others might attract students skilled in math/science. Yet these, too, have mixed results. A study conducted in Philadelphia, PA, where a magnet school program was established to increase segregation, illustrated an actual increase in segregation. The study demonstrated that the magnet school program targeted white students, leaving black students and very racially segregated neighborhoods and public schools behind (Saporito).
Rezoning:
Another common suggestion to decrease segregation is rezoning the school districts. As discussed in Residential Segregation, whites have increasingly established themselves in suburban areas, while blacks have remained in the cities. Frequently, school district lines mirror the divisions between the suburbs and the cities. Thus, re-drawing school zone lines could potentially influence segregation in the schools. If the school zones intersected the suburbs and cities instead of dividing them, the district's schools would draw from both the blacks/minorities in the cities and the whites in the suburbs.
Busing:
Busing has frequently been used as a method of increasing integration within the schools. (See Milliken v. Bradley.) Busing allows school districts to acquire from neighborhoods with different racial compositions. For example, a predominantly white school might choose to bus black students to the school. Busing allows schools to increase their range of neighborhoods from which they draw students and, thus, potentially decreasing segregation.
SOURCES:
Bifulco, Robert and Helen F. Ladd. (2006). "School Choice, Racial Integration and Test Score Gaps: Evidence from North Carolina's Charter School Programs." Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from http://209.197.108.139/assa/2006/0108_0800_0903.pdf.
Saporito, Salvatore. (2003). "Private Choices, Public Consequences: Magnet School Choice and Segregation by Race and Poverty." Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from
http://www.politicalscience.uncc.edu/godwink/PPOL8687/WK9%20March%2015%20School%20Choice/Saporito%20%20Magnet%20School%20Choice%20and%20Segregation.pdf.
Increasing School Choice with Charter Schools and/or Magnet Programs:
One argument for decreasing segregation is increasing school choice. Predominately black inner-city schools typically perform poorer than white suburban schools. If parents have more options, black parents can choose to avoid failing inner-city public schools. Creating charter schools, for example, is one common method of creating school choice. Most charter schools allow any student to apply, and, typically, students are chosen via a lottery system. More charter schools could potentially create more integration throughout the school districts if black parents and white parents use school choice to their advantage. However, studies are inconclusive about the actual effectiveness of charter schools in reducing segregation. A study conducted in North Carolina in 2006 indicated that segregation increased with charter schools because parents chose charter schools for their children with similar racial compositions (Bifulco).
Magnet schools can also create school choice. These programs try and draw a specific student; for example, some magnet programs might target white students, whereas others might attract students skilled in math/science. Yet these, too, have mixed results. A study conducted in Philadelphia, PA, where a magnet school program was established to increase segregation, illustrated an actual increase in segregation. The study demonstrated that the magnet school program targeted white students, leaving black students and very racially segregated neighborhoods and public schools behind (Saporito).
Rezoning:
Another common suggestion to decrease segregation is rezoning the school districts. As discussed in Residential Segregation, whites have increasingly established themselves in suburban areas, while blacks have remained in the cities. Frequently, school district lines mirror the divisions between the suburbs and the cities. Thus, re-drawing school zone lines could potentially influence segregation in the schools. If the school zones intersected the suburbs and cities instead of dividing them, the district's schools would draw from both the blacks/minorities in the cities and the whites in the suburbs.
Busing:
Busing has frequently been used as a method of increasing integration within the schools. (See Milliken v. Bradley.) Busing allows school districts to acquire from neighborhoods with different racial compositions. For example, a predominantly white school might choose to bus black students to the school. Busing allows schools to increase their range of neighborhoods from which they draw students and, thus, potentially decreasing segregation.
SOURCES:
Bifulco, Robert and Helen F. Ladd. (2006). "School Choice, Racial Integration and Test Score Gaps: Evidence from North Carolina's Charter School Programs." Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from http://209.197.108.139/assa/2006/0108_0800_0903.pdf.
Saporito, Salvatore. (2003). "Private Choices, Public Consequences: Magnet School Choice and Segregation by Race and Poverty." Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from
http://www.politicalscience.uncc.edu/godwink/PPOL8687/WK9%20March%2015%20School%20Choice/Saporito%20%20Magnet%20School%20Choice%20and%20Segregation.pdf.