Economic Segregation Challenging Ohio’s Public Schools

Economic SegregationChallenging Ohio’s Public Schools June 26th 2006 Jason Reece Senior GIS Demographic Specialist Rebecca Reno Research Associate Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity The Ohio State University http://www.kirwaninstitute.org/

Today’s Discussion • Factors that Impact Education • Socioeconomic Segregation & School Quality • Disparity Frames: Personal & Structural • Socioeconomic Segregation & Racial Segregation • The Racialization of Space • Next Steps

Factors that Impact Education • Home Environment • Health • Violence • Housing (Stability & Quality) • Parent Education & SES • Student Factors • In-School Practices • Curriculum/Pedagogy • Tracking • Special Education/Discipline • Out of School Factors • Early Childhood Education • Community Engagement & Resources • Institutional Factors • Funding • Racial Integration • Teacher Quality • Teacher/Staff/Administrative Diversity • Socioeconomic Segregation

Socioeconomic Segregation • In Ohio’s six largest metropolitan regions… • Cleveland (Cuyahoga) • Columbus (Franklin) • Cincinnati (Hamilton) • Toledo (Lucas) • Dayton (Montgomery) • Akron (Summit) • …more than half of all poor students are segregated into high poverty schools -defined as more than 60% of the student body economically disadvantaged

“Socioeconomic composition of a school’s student composition is an even stronger predictor [of achievement] than an individual’s home background.” - Urban Schools: The Challenge of Location and Poverty

Socioeconomic Segregation & School Quality • Ohio’s public school classification system: • Excellent • Effective • Continuous Improvement • Academic Watch • Academic Emergency • Of all high poverty schools, 94.4% are classified in the lowest three categories • In NO instance did high poverty schools outperform non-high poverty schools

The Link Between Socioeconomic Segregation & School Quality • Given this relationship, couldn’t these disparities be attributed to class alone? • This represents an argument growing in popularity, but dangerous in its implications- colorblindness

Personal Racism • Racism has historically been defined as personal prejudice- a model dominant in the 40’s & 50’s • Following policy interventions (e.g. Brown), racism is thought to have been eradicated • This model is dominant both among public belief and in the law. • In order to prove discrimination, there must be intent • Thus unless there is a racist actor, racially disparate effects are meaningless

Structural Racism • Despite the civil rights movement, group-based, durable inequalities still exist • However, more and more Americans are non-prejudiced • How do we explain this? • Structural Racism:the blind interaction between institutions, policies and practices which inevitably perpetuates barriers to opportunities and racial disparities.

Fiscal Policies Effective Participation Childcare Employment Education Housing Health Transportation Structural Racism- The Silent Opportunity Killer

Nexus Between Economic & Racial Segregation • Strong correlation between economic segregation & racial segregation • Schools are largely segregated by race – nearly all schools with a majority of students of color are high poverty • The average White student attends a school with student poverty ranging from 23-30% • For the average African American student, school poverty ranges from 61-78%

Racial/Economic School Segregation • Ohio is experiencing high levels of both racial and school segregation • Rates of school segregation increased in Ohio’s major metropolitan areas • Vast inequities exist in the number of African American students attending high poverty schools

School Poverty & Race Average School Poverty Rate for the Average Student by Race in 2000

Schools and Affordable Housing: Two Dimensions of Segregation School segregation and housing segregation are interconnected and reinforcing

Effects of these Arrangements • As these systems are working in the absence of overt discrimination, they are self perpetuating • Even more dangerous, with our dominant disparity attribution frame (i.e. personal discrimination = racism) these effects are not seen as racially discriminatory- • Instead they are explained in individual ways • Laziness, personal choice, biological deficiencies, etc.

Implications of Inequity • When these inequities are acknowledged, they are framed in a way that demonstrates harm to the oppressed only. • In reality, they have psychological, sociological, and economic implications for us all. "I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.” -Nelson Mandela

Economic Impacts: Regional Health • Why should those who are not marginalized care about equity challenges? • High concentrations of poverty and segregated neighborhoods can also have deleterious effects on the well-being and health of the entire metropolitan region • Concern about school quality is one of the primary factors driving the flight of families with children out of the City • Destabilizing the entire city and furthering segregation

Linked Fate: Why Should Others Care About Equity and Inclusion • A region and all its residents share a linked fate • This issue is particularly important today • To thrive, regions must be competitive in the global economy • Inequality is a sign of an economically/socially inefficient region, where proper investments are not made in human capital, and where much of the population can not meet its creative potential • These disparities make the region less competitive, nationally and globally

Economic Health and Equity • How do racial and social inequities impact overall regional health? • Racial and regional inequities impact the health of the entire region, and impact everyone in the region • The region loses its competitive edge in the global economy • Inequitable schools that produce an unprepared (undereducated) labor force • Interregional economic competition that erodes the region’s collective economic voice and power • Fragmented and redundant governments, underused and redundant infrastructure in suburban areas

Economic Impacts: Public Investments • Failing to adequately fund public education ultimately requires greater public spending in other arenas • Unemployment and healthcare: 50% of high school drop/push outs are unemployed • Criminal justice system: 80% of prisoners did not complete high school

Next Steps • Reframe the Issue • Diversity as Excellence, not at the expense of • Linked Fate- equity for the benefit of all • Pursue additional research to support these • How is segregation harming all of us? • How would educational equity help us?

Goals of Public Education • Set goals, create positive vision for education • Three goals of education 1. Preparation for Success- Employment & Higher Education 2. Build Human Capacity- Psychological/Social Development 3. Civic Capacity- Knowledge & Participation • Which is most important? • Where are our efforts directed?

Next Steps: Policy Interventions • Identify policies that have been effective to achieve goals • Economic integration: Wake County, NC; La Crosse, WI; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC • Democratic merit: Clark University in Worcester, MA; University of Texas 10% plan • Establish a dialogue with policy makers; expose them to the relevant data

Coalition building • Determine key intersections/leverage points • As all opportunity structures are intersecting, key leverage points in alternate fields such as housing can have tremendous impact • Good to Great- Minneapolis, MN • Coalition building • Bridge traditional institutional, class, geographic, racial, ethnic and religious boundaries

Questions or Comments? For More Information Visit Us On-Line:www.KirwanInstitute.org

“We are all caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly effects all indirectly.” -The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Economic Segregation Challenging Ohio’s Public Schools