NYC School Segregation Report Card: Still Last, Action Needed Now
From the Executive Summary
Eight years ago, in 2014, The Civil Rights Project issued a report that raised awareness about the dire state of segregation in New York State and, in particular, New York City schools. That report spurred substantial activism, primarily led by student groups, parents, teachers, and administrators, which has been influential in the current integration efforts underway in NYC.
This report serves as an update to the 2014 report, which analyzed data up to 2010.[1] The analysis of recent data in this report reveals trends from 2010-2018 in school segregation at the state, city, borough, and community district level.
A number of findings resulted from this analysis. First, New York State retains its place as the most segregated state for black students, and second most segregated for Latino students (after California).[2] Segregation patterns have persisted since 2010, and attendance in segregated schools has intensified for black students. More black and Latino students are attending schools with high levels of poverty. We found great disparities in racial/ethnic isolation between charter and traditional public schools. Charter schools have proliferated since 2010 and these remain the most highly racially isolated schools. We found slight decreases in the share of charter schools that are intensely segregated since 2010, except for in Queens where there has been a sharp increase in the share of segregated charter schools. There is great variation among racial/ethnic isolation among city boroughs and community school districts. Black and Latino students experience the greatest isolation in the Bronx, and white and Asian students have the highest isolation on Staten Island. Three community school districts have experienced modest diversification in their school enrollment: District 2 in Manhattan, District15 in Brooklyn and District 31 in Staten Island.
Other specific findings can be found in the attached executive summary and full report.
[1] Kucsera, J., & Orfield, G. (2014). New York state’s extreme school segregation: Inequality, inaction and a damaged future, (March), 155 p. Retrieved from http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/ny-norflet-report-placeholder.
[2] Based on highest shares of segregated schools and lowest exposure to White students.
This report can be accessed at eScholarship: escholarship.org/uc/item/5fx616qn
