New Research Shows Increasing School Segregation in South

News Advisory                                              

May 23, 2017      

Contact John McDonald at 310-880-5332

New UCLA Civil Rights Project Report Shows

Increasing School Segregation in South

Research by the UCLA Civil Rights Project and the Center for Education and Civil Rights at Penn State finds reversal of Civil Rights era gains, increase in intense segregation for Black and Latino students in the Southern region

The Civil Rights Project will release a new research brief examining the status of segregation in the Southern schools. The brief, issued with the Center for Education and Civil Rights at Penn State, details a reversal in gains made toward integration in the region in the Civil Rights era and offers recommendations for ensuring diversity in Southern schools.

The brief details an increase in the intense segregation of Black and Latino students in the South since 1980 and a decline in Black student contact with white students. Despite increasing enrollment, the research also shows a widening gap in exposure of Latino students to White students in the South. The report also finds increasing exposure to poverty for all student groups, and intense segregation by both race and income for Black and Latino students. The research also examines enrollment in Charter and private schools and its impact on segregation.

The research brief, "Southern Schools – More than a Half-Century After the Civil Rights Revolution," will be released for publication and broadcast Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

The report will be published on the Civil Rights Project website https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu

An advance, embargoed version of the research brief is available Tuesday May 21, 2017 to interested journalists who will honor the embargo. To receive an embargoed copy please contact John McDonald at jmcdonald@gseis.ucla.edu

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