Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627830
- eISBN:
- 9781469627854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627830.003.0002
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter carefully describes how school district boundaries help structure segregation in our highly urbanized country. Drawing upon evidence from education, sociology, political science and law, ...
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This chapter carefully describes how school district boundaries help structure segregation in our highly urbanized country. Drawing upon evidence from education, sociology, political science and law, it argues that politicized, invisible walls give shape to segregation in schools and communities and makes the case for why that still matters. The ongoing link between racial and economic segregation and unequal opportunity is contrasted with the current educational policy paradigm that largely ignores the fundamental importance of such issues. The chapter contends that today’s regionalism addresses problems related to metropolitan fragmentation, but often does so to the exclusion of critical conversations about educational opportunity.Less
This chapter carefully describes how school district boundaries help structure segregation in our highly urbanized country. Drawing upon evidence from education, sociology, political science and law, it argues that politicized, invisible walls give shape to segregation in schools and communities and makes the case for why that still matters. The ongoing link between racial and economic segregation and unequal opportunity is contrasted with the current educational policy paradigm that largely ignores the fundamental importance of such issues. The chapter contends that today’s regionalism addresses problems related to metropolitan fragmentation, but often does so to the exclusion of critical conversations about educational opportunity.
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627830
- eISBN:
- 9781469627854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627830.003.0005
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter links the differing city-suburban school district configurations and desegregation histories of Richmond, Charlotte, Louisville and Chattanooga to contemporary patterns of school and ...
More
This chapter links the differing city-suburban school district configurations and desegregation histories of Richmond, Charlotte, Louisville and Chattanooga to contemporary patterns of school and housing segregation. U.S. Census and federal school enrollment data is used to analyze key trends in housing and schools. Maps constructed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the visual presentation of different measures of segregation dramatically illustrates the current landscape of school and housing segregation. Most significantly, the chapter shows that metropolitan school desegregation strategies are associated with dramatic declines in both school and housing segregation between 1990 and 2010. The increasingly multiracial nature of school enrollments in the four metros is emphasized, and key policy changes (e.g., the abandonment of school desegregation policies) are linked to increases in levels of school and housing segregation.Less
This chapter links the differing city-suburban school district configurations and desegregation histories of Richmond, Charlotte, Louisville and Chattanooga to contemporary patterns of school and housing segregation. U.S. Census and federal school enrollment data is used to analyze key trends in housing and schools. Maps constructed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the visual presentation of different measures of segregation dramatically illustrates the current landscape of school and housing segregation. Most significantly, the chapter shows that metropolitan school desegregation strategies are associated with dramatic declines in both school and housing segregation between 1990 and 2010. The increasingly multiracial nature of school enrollments in the four metros is emphasized, and key policy changes (e.g., the abandonment of school desegregation policies) are linked to increases in levels of school and housing segregation.
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627830
- eISBN:
- 9781469627854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627830.003.0004
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
Using primary and secondary sources like newspaper articles, school board minutes, policy reports, interviews and books, this chapter outlines key school desegregation characteristics of Richmond, ...
More
Using primary and secondary sources like newspaper articles, school board minutes, policy reports, interviews and books, this chapter outlines key school desegregation characteristics of Richmond, Louisville, Charlotte and Chattanooga. The differing school district boundary line arrangements are emphasized alongside a discussion of how those configurations developed. The chapter also explores how similar early school desegregation histories in each of the metros gave way to very different approaches in later years. Major policy shifts are highlighted, and an overview of limited efforts in two of the metros to address housing segregation in conjunction with school segregation is provided.Less
Using primary and secondary sources like newspaper articles, school board minutes, policy reports, interviews and books, this chapter outlines key school desegregation characteristics of Richmond, Louisville, Charlotte and Chattanooga. The differing school district boundary line arrangements are emphasized alongside a discussion of how those configurations developed. The chapter also explores how similar early school desegregation histories in each of the metros gave way to very different approaches in later years. Major policy shifts are highlighted, and an overview of limited efforts in two of the metros to address housing segregation in conjunction with school segregation is provided.
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627830
- eISBN:
- 9781469627854
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627830.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
How we provide equal educational opportunity to an increasingly diverse, highly urbanized student population is one of the central concerns facing our nation. We are currently allowing a labyrinthine ...
More
How we provide equal educational opportunity to an increasingly diverse, highly urbanized student population is one of the central concerns facing our nation. We are currently allowing a labyrinthine system of school district boundaries to cleave students—and opportunities—along racial and economic lines. Rather than confronting these realities, though, most contemporary educational policies focus on improving schools by raising academic standards, holding teachers and students accountable through test performance, and promoting private-sector competition. WHEN THE FENCES COME DOWN takes us into the heart of the metropolitan South to explore what happens when communities instead focus squarely on overcoming the educational divide between city and suburb. Based on widely differing and highly illustrative experiences with regional school desegregation in Richmond, Virginia; Louisville, Kentucky; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina; and Chattanooga, Tennessee between 1990 and 2010, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley uses quantitative methods and innovative mapping tools to both underscore the damages wrought by school district boundary lines and raise awareness about communities that have sought to counteract them. She shows that city-suburban school desegregation policy is related to clear-cut progress on both school and housing desegregation. WHEN THE FENCES COME DOWN revisits educational policies that in many cases were abruptly halted—or never begun—to spur an open conversation about the creation of the healthy, integrated schools and communities critical to our multiracial future.Less
How we provide equal educational opportunity to an increasingly diverse, highly urbanized student population is one of the central concerns facing our nation. We are currently allowing a labyrinthine system of school district boundaries to cleave students—and opportunities—along racial and economic lines. Rather than confronting these realities, though, most contemporary educational policies focus on improving schools by raising academic standards, holding teachers and students accountable through test performance, and promoting private-sector competition. WHEN THE FENCES COME DOWN takes us into the heart of the metropolitan South to explore what happens when communities instead focus squarely on overcoming the educational divide between city and suburb. Based on widely differing and highly illustrative experiences with regional school desegregation in Richmond, Virginia; Louisville, Kentucky; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina; and Chattanooga, Tennessee between 1990 and 2010, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley uses quantitative methods and innovative mapping tools to both underscore the damages wrought by school district boundary lines and raise awareness about communities that have sought to counteract them. She shows that city-suburban school desegregation policy is related to clear-cut progress on both school and housing desegregation. WHEN THE FENCES COME DOWN revisits educational policies that in many cases were abruptly halted—or never begun—to spur an open conversation about the creation of the healthy, integrated schools and communities critical to our multiracial future.
