Gary Orfield

Increasingly Segregated and Unequal Schools as Courts Reverse Policy.

Purpose: School administrators and policy makers live in a complex, changing policy universe in which there are many competing demands and political pressures. Rarely is there much time to think about sensitive issues of long duration that are not part of the immediate demands they face. This article is about such an issue, a question that will deeply influence the future of schools and communities but which is usually ignored—the increasing separation of large sectors of our student bodies into intensely segregated schools with unequal educational opportunity. Research Methods: The data analyzed come from the National Center for Education Statistics, Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe, which contain demographic data about all public schools since the late 1980s. We rely on two measures of segregation, concentration and exposure/isolation index, to assess its current status and change over time in the nation’s public schools. Findings: This article describes the vast transformation of the nation’s school population since the civil rights era. As diversity spreads, so too does segregation by race and often class, including into suburbia in many large metropolitan areas. As a legacy of Brown, Black students are still more desegregated in the South than any other region of the country, but both Black and Latino students are experiencing rising segregation. Implications: We conclude with recommendations about possible responses educational leaders might pursue to make the promise of Brown a reality in the 21st century. Desegregation properly implemented can help equalize educational opportunities and prepare young Americans for the diverse society in which they will live.

Tenth Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research A New Civil Rights Agenda for American Education

This article reviews the impacts of the civil rights policies framed in the 1960s and the anti–civil rights political and legal movements that reversed them. It documents rising segregation by race and poverty. The policy reversals and transformation of U.S. demography require a new civil rights strategy. Vast immigrations, the sinking White birthrate and massive suburban change means it must be multiracial and metropolitan and reflect the huge increase in students from language-minority homes. School policy must be linked with social and economic policy. Housing integration is critical since residence is often destiny for children of color. Researchers are key participants in developing new policies and explaining possibilities for positive change within a stalemated political and legal system. The article outlines essential components of a new civil rights policy.

Demographic Transformation in a Policy Vacuum: The Changing Face of U.S. Metropolitan Society and Challenges for Public Schools

Abstract Educators and policy makers must confront the race and class disparities in learning opportunities across American society. Nowhere are these disparities more acute than in the countrys great metropolitan areas. As the demographic landscape continues to shift, metropolitan areas are fueling the transition to a majority-minority country. This essay provides an overview of the challenges for the countrys public schools and offers an alternative path to creating a more just and vital society.

Perpetuating Separate and Unequal Worlds of Educational Opportunity Through District Lines: School Segregation by Race and Poverty

School segregation has serious consequences for educational opportunity and success. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, this study explores the relationship between fragmentation—the degree to which metropolitan areas are split into many separate school districts—and segregation. Three measures of segregation—exposure, concentration, and evenness—are employed to analyze state- and metropolitan-level data between 1989 and 2010 in four states with different school district structures. Findings in this exploratory study indicate that states and metropolitan areas with more fragmented district structures are associated with higher levels of segregation. In comparison to the less fragmented states of North Carolina and Virginia, in the highly fragmented states of New York and New Jersey, the typical black and Latino student are exposed to smaller shares of white students, the typical white student is more isolated with other white peers, there are greater disparities in exposure to low-income students by race, the share of non-white segregated schools is substantially larger, and levels of multiracial unevenness are higher. Highly fragmented states and metropolitan areas cannot confront segregation by exclusively focusing their efforts within districts; instead, regional strategies could be used to make progress in desegregating schools across school district lines.

Are We Segregated and Satisfied? Segregation and Inequality in Southern California Schools

Southern California is facing a demographic transformation that will become characteristic of the nation as a whole in coming decades. In this research, we present a historical review of the region’s attempt to address school inequity, recent enrollment and segregation trends, and an investigation of whether segregation still matters. Our results indicate that school segregation has increased, with inequitable access to learning opportunities and resources enduring. Policies advocating integration by some combination of socioeconomic status, race, and/or linguistic background are legal, offer real possibilities, and should be used in Southern California and other similar regions across the nation.

Affirmative Action Hanging in the Balance Giving Voice to the Research Community in the Supreme Court

DOI: 10.3102/0013189X13486625