Metropolitan school desegregation: Impact on racial integration of neighborhoods in the United States

Abstract

Research on school desegregation in U.S. cities has focused on the issues of white flight and the potential for racial residential integration of segregated neighborhoods. There is also concern over the effectiveness of a metropolitan desegregation plan for racial integration as against a plan which encompasses only the central city of urban areas. This paper deals with a court-ordered metropolitan school desegregation plan in New Castle County, Delaware. The method used is an examination of 602 small geographic areas (grids); the objective is to examine the extent of residential out-migration of students from the central city and to examine whether there is any tendency toward racial residential integration in the county. Evidence suggests (a) that the central city grids are retaining white students but losing black students and (b) that the level of racial segregation of suburban neighborhoods is not declining.We conclude from preliminary data that with each succeeding year, internal relocation, rather than moves to private school and out-migration from the metropolitan area, will be the major characteristic of student redistribution. If this is the case, the extent to which intra-system relocation results in racially integrated and stable neighborhoods should be a major research and policy focus.

Charter schools, parent choice, and segregation: A longitudinal study of the growth of charters and changing enrollment patterns in five school districts over 26 years

“…The city of Wilmington was 56% black and like most old American cities, residentially segregated. The trend for the last two decades had been toward increasing racial isolation of black students in Wilmington's schools as the number of black students steadily increased and the number of white students steadily decreased (Darden, 1985;Klaff, 1982).…”

A survey of recent research on race and residential location

“…Farley concludes that unless the concept of neighborhood schools is abandoned, desegregation of the schools is highly unlikely. Klaff (1982) concludes that to be effective, any school desegregation plan must encompass the entire metropolitan area and not be restricted to the central city area. He argues that without desegregation of the public schools, the probability of residential and/or social integration is very low, as prejudices are easier to overcome in children than in adults.…”