Wednesday, December 18, 2019

How school district boundaries enable segregation

Not about New England but could be:
In the suburbs today, there appears to be little concern over the racial segregation that was exacerbated by the new district lines. Residents note that Collierville, where 60 percent of students are white, is more diverse than the district serving Memphis, where students are overwhelmingly African American. Even in neighboring Germantown, 1 in 4 students are black, Asian or Hispanic.
“Longtime residents of Memphis and Shelby County have grown weary in many ways of the spotlight on desegregation,” said Jeff Jones, chief of staff for Collierville schools. “People feel, ‘We tried that. We went there, and it didn’t work.’ That’s the resignation a lot of people have arrived at.” Instead, he said, the goal is for each district to do the best job possible with the children it has.
Collierville allows students from other districts in the county to transfer in, but charges about $400 each, with 466 transfer students this year. Germantown has considered charging tuition as well, but so far has not.
Jones added that longtime residents of Collierville are invested in Memphis’s success, but he said newer arrivals hardly relate to the central city, living their lives in the suburbs. “They eat here, shop here, worship here.

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