Separate, equal-ish

If wealthy Malibu can convince less-affluent Santa Monica, Calif. that two districts would work better than the one they now share, it could offer a template for others around the country that have sought independence from their less-well-off partners, writes Kyle Spencer for The Hechinger Report. "Separatist movements" are increasingly common as parents in mostly white, mostly middle-class communities in and around such places as Memphis, Salt Lake City, Baton Rouge, and Dallas have sought to splinter from more economically and racially diverse districts. These parents say they're eager to detach from overly bureaucratic administrations, worry that association with schools serving at-risk students hurts property values, desire more local control when districts are increasingly focused on outcomes for their neediest, and are particularly motivated by burgeoning changes in PTA fundraising policies, which create more equitable offerings between schools with wealthy PTAs and those without. Advocates who assist communities that seek to leave larger, more diverse districts argue that these grassroots separatist campaigns are democratic because they result in more parental say in neighborhood schools. Yet so many communities around the country are already divided along racial and economic lines: Today, American schools are more segregated than in 1968.More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.