Diverse Schools Equal Economically Successful Young Adults

More than 1 in 10 children in the United States will spend more than half of their life in poverty. Only a small percentage will become economically successful. In Connecticut alone, in 2016 13%, or 96,000, children lived in poverty. Racial, residential, and school segregation also play a major role in disadvantaged youths not becoming economically successful.

With the current plan to place all of our children in an area with a high rate of poverty into one school, I felt it was imperative to explore the question of how we can ensure our most vulnerable have the best chance at success.

The US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty looked at data from a University of Michigan panel study of Income Dynamics. This study tracked over 18,000 individuals across 5,000 family units from 1968 to present, and is on going. They found that only 16% of persistently poor children, children who have spent more than half their lives in poverty from birth to 17, became successful young adults. They define successful young adults as having been working or in school and not poor between the ages of 25 and 30.

Caroline Raddcliffe and co-author Emma Cancian Kalish write that many factors that helped the 16% become economically successful were out of their control. These young adults were less likely to have been poor very early in life (birth to two years old), had a parent or head of household who worked at least part-time, and much less likely to have lived with a parent or head of household with a disability.

Only 8% of the most successful persistently poor children lived in a family such as that between the ages of 12 and 17. 40% of the least successful young adults did live in a family with a disabled parent or head of household. The most successful group grew up in less segregated cities with less segregated neighborhoods and schools. Segregation had significant effects on a child's success.

84% of persistently poor children do not become successful later in life. Caroline Raddcliffe states, "This has a cost affect on society, tens of billions of dollars a year are lost in productivity and expenses related to poor health and crime." Early Poverty is also linked to toxic stress, which harms early development.

The authors of the study recommend strategies that can give the 84% a better chance at success. This includes access to housing vouchers that allow families to move out of segregated low-income neighborhoods to higher income areas. They also call for improving schools, security, and economic opportunities for disadvantaged neighborhoods.

If we go even further and look at how disadvantaged children are affected by segregation, both racial and socio-economical, we can better understand why so many are against the de-magnitizing of Stratford Academy. The Stratford Academy neighborhood has over 1,000 children enrolled in the public school system, we also have the highest percentage of children living in poverty. Out of 100% of these children, statistically, 16% will become economically successful young adults. We should be doing everything we can to give all of our children the best possible chance at success.

Racial imbalance in United States public schools is higher today than following de-segregation. In a study on racial imbalance in public schools, the authors look at every public school in the county and compare their racial makeup with their surrounding neighborhood (a 2 mile radius). While most schools are similar to their surrounding neighborhood in regards to racial makeup, 1/3 of public schools are considered 'outliers'. For some districts, the way lines are drawn masks the extent to which schools do not look like their surroundings in terms of race. This is due to gerrymandering.

School segregation is a direct result of residential segregation. This can cause schools to appear balanced based on the neighborhood within their district boundaries. However, when the authors included census blocks from across district boundaries, the balance changed. Some school boundaries have been altered to create more segregation, this is called 'Educational Gerrymandering'. While school intergration has to be seen by neighboorhood intergration, educational policy matters too.

There exists large gaps between high- and low-income students, and African American and Caucasian students. What we call the 'Achievement Gap'. This can be attributed to income segregation between school districts. This creates inequality in economic and social resources available in advantaged and disadvantaged students schools.

National data is clear, the income achievement gap is larger in segregated areas. High-incomed students preform better than low-incomed students in more segregated areas. Income segregation between districts also contributes to the racial achievement gap. White students preform better in more economically segregated places. Income segregation creates affluent districts for high-incomed students while negligibly changing the context of low-incomed students. When income and race are considered jointly, only high-incomed white families live in affluent districts, black families with identically high incomes live in districts similar to those of low-incomed white families.

On paper, school segregation has declined since the 1960s, this is largely due to an increase in Hispanic school population. However, white segregation has been flat since the 1990s. Segregation by schools, by race, remains high due to the continued separation of white and black students .

School segregation has mainly negative concequences, from social isolation to acedemic outcomes. School district boundaries can divide some communities along racial lines. School segregation between districts has increased.

Racially and economically balanced schools and classrooms benefit all students. It's a win-win. Students in diverse schools have higher average test scores, they're more likely to go to college, less likely to drop out of high school. Diverse schools encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. They help reduce racial bias and counter stereotypes, improve students satisfaction and intellectual self-confidence, enhance leadership skills, and prepare students to succeed in a global economy.

When we talk about balanced and diverse schools, we don't mean 34% and 80%, we mean 45% and 55%. Neighboorhood schools are only as balanced as their neighboorhoods. What future are we really giving our most disadvantaged students? Who really wins here? Let's not want this for selfish reasons. We must always think of those who will NOT benefit from our decisions, who will be hurt by them. The children really are our future and we better be damn sure the future we create for them is bright.