Saturday, August 10, 2019

Take A Look At America's Segregated — And Unequal — Schools : NPR

Take A Look At America's Segregated — And Unequal — Schools : NPR

PHOTOS: Where The Kids Across Town Grow Up With Very Different Schools

On one side of the line — fresh paint and computer labs.
Across that line? Old textbooks, broken chairs and, above all, many more students of color.
Decades after Brown v. Board supposedly ended segregated schooling, these boundaries show a country where education remains deeply divided and unequal.
"You know it as soon as you look at the school. You know it the minute you walk into a classroom," says Rebecca Sibilia, the founder and CEO of EdBuild. Her organization has a new report on the pervasive inequality in U.S. schools. "There are kids who see this every day, and they understand."
Across the country, racist housing policies created segregated neighborhoods. And because many schools in the U.S. are funded locally, through property taxes or other funds, school districts with wealthier residents are able to funnel money to their schools. Neighboring school districts miss out.
Additional money from state and the federal governments is meant to close these local funding gaps, but it's seldom enough.
Decades after Brown, housing segregation combined with this funding model have entrenched what EdBuild calls "racially isolated" school systems. In nearly 1,000 communities, according to EdBuild, one school district directly abuts a district that differs dramatically by racial makeup and spending per student.
Almost 9 million students attend these underfunded, racially isolated districts.
NPR sent photographers to several of them across the country to document the stark differences across these borders.
This is what they saw.

Stark differences, in black and white

JEFFERSON COUNTY SCHOOLS / MOUNTAIN BROOK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
OUTSIDE BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
Map showing the two school districts near Birmingham in Alabama
JEFFERSON COUNTYMOUNTAIN BROOK CITY
Enrollment36,1714,343
Total revenue per pupil$9,220$14,327
Percent nonwhite58%4%
Poverty rate17%6%
Median household income$27,932$70,625
Owner-occupied median property value$134,400$578,100

An island of wealth surrounded by the city of Oakland

OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT / PIEDMONT CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Map showing the two Bay Area school districts
OAKLANDPIEDMONT CITY
Enrollment49,7602,692
Total revenue per pupil$12,721$17,725
Percent nonwhite90%40%
Poverty rate18%2%

In Connecticut, one district "eclipsed" by its neighbor

NEW BRITAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT / BERLIN SCHOOL DISTRICT
HARTFORD, CONN.
Map showing the two school districts
NEW BRITAINBERLIN
Enrollment10,0652,791
Total revenue per pupil$16,251$21,579
Percent nonwhite80%18%
Poverty rate31%5%
Median household income$43,611$93,328
Owner-occupied median property value$156,800$281,100

The California coastline, marked by inequality

GONZALES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT / CARMEL UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
CARMEL, CALIF.
Map showing the two school districts
GONZALESCARMEL
Enrollment2,4242,509
Total revenue per pupil$12,341$24,183
Percent nonwhite98%38%
Poverty rate18%6%
Median household income$52,656$90,492
Owner-occupied median property value$325,700$1,073,700
CONTINUE READING: Take A Look At America's Segregated — And Unequal — Schools : NPR