Segregated schools tend to produce lower educational outcomes, in turn limiting lifetime opportunities, for students who attend high poverty, high minority schools, according to a report on New Jersey from the Civil Rights Project. A growing body of research is showing that desegregated schools are linked to benefits for all children.
“In terms of the life chances of students, it matters enormously whether New Jersey can make progress on school segregation,” said Richard Kahlenberg, expert on education and housing policy at the Progressive Policy Institute.
One of the best ways to integrate schools, according to Kahlenberg, is through choice programs that provide incentives for parents to send their kids to schools outside of their neighborhood, such as a Montessori program or one with a special focus on the arts. This works best when there are established fairness guidelines, he added, warning that completely unregulated choice can lead to more segregation. Choice also works best when parents have a say in what types of magnet schools would work best for their families, Kahlenberg said.
“There are magnet schools that are not magnetic. They don’t draw, so that’s why it’s important to do careful planning and survey parents to find out what would be attractive and work to integrate the student bodies,” Kahlenberg said.
