The Persistence of Segregation in Schools

I grew up in New Hampshire and went to school in Vermont.  None of my high school’s eighty students were anything other than white.  We never really thought about it much, but when trying to figure out how to publicize our school, we realized that we couldn’t claim diversity.   Many schools all over the country are finding that even though segregation laws were lifted in 1969,  segregation is still prominent in schools.  In the U.S “white students account for just over half of all students in public schools, down from four-fifths in 1970” (Rich), so one would hope that all schools were 50/50.  However, “43 percent of Latinos and 38 percent of blacks attending schools where fewer than 10 percent of their classmates are white, according to the report, released ... by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California,  Los Angeles” (Rich).

In 2002,  President George W. Bush signed into affect the No Child Left Behind Act.  The  act was meant to improve schools by holding teachers accountable for the improvement in students’ academics.  The way that a student’s improvement would be measured was by standardized tests.  The punishment for “if a school fails to demonstrate adequate yearly progress for 2 or more consecutive years” was that “it must offer students the option of transferring to another public school unless existing state law prohibits public school choice, with the student’s home district paying the cost of transporting students to the chosen school”  (Applequist).  With fear of losing students to other schools and being shut down, schools try to keep up their test scores by only accepting students they think will do well.  This “ could inadvertently increase segregation” as in most cases, these choices are based on stereotypes associated with a student’s race.

In a recent New York Times article, Democratic councilman Brad Lander was quoted as saying, “ We claim to be clear on the values of diversity for our kids and the necessity of not having a segregated system.  Unfortunately, the reality is we have a deeply segregated school system that doesn’t deliver the benefits of diversity to most public school kids” (Taylor).   It seems that even though segregation in schools was abolished, it’s still happening on a very large scale, being helped along my current legislation.  The No Child Left Behind Act was meant to help all children, regardless of background or skin colour, to reach their full potential.  Instead, it scared teachers so much that they stopped teaching to help the students learn, and instead taught for a test that couldn’t accurately measure someone’s potential.  This led to even more children getting left behind than before.  Segregation in schools won’t stop until funding is distributed to schools based on actual need, not test scores, and students are taught to fit their learning styles, not a test.  When that happens, no one will think about accepting someone to a school because their race or background supposedly dictates how well they will do: all students will simply be accepted because everyone has a right to a fair education that will cater to their needs. 

Applequist, Kimberly. "No Child Left Behind Act." Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other Exceptional Individuals. Hoboken: Wiley, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 24 October 2014.

Rich, Motoko.  Segregation Prominent in Schools, Study Finds.  New York Times. September 19th, 2012.

Taylor, Katie.  New York City Council to Look at School Segregation.  New York Times. Oct. 21, 2014.