Dive Brief:
- A plan to shift the boundary between two Brooklyn elementary schools, P.S. 307 and P.S. 8, has prompted uproar among families both white and black over potential changes the shift could bring to both schools, The New York Times reports.
- In response to overcrowding in the relatively affluent and predominantly white P.S. 8, city officials have suggested moving students in two neighborhoods inside its boundary to the mostly black P.S. 307, but white families have objected to the move and black families are worried about the changes such a move could bring to their school.
- Several town hall meetings have brought angry outbursts from parents concerned about the future of their children and neighborhoods, with some parents requesting a slowed down timeline for the changes and more information.
Dive Insight:
The proposal has given city residents a taste of the challenges of integrating divided urban communities and their schools. By some measures, New York City is one of the most segregated school systems in the country, and most educational reforms in the past decade have done little to reverse that trend. Meanwhile, recent stories from This American Life and ProPublica have once again raised the question of reintegrating schools — both for equity and for the academic benefits for black and other minority students.
In the case of P.S. 307 and P.S. 8, that means addressing concerns about P.S. 307’s lower performance on accountability measures and ensuring teacher quality at the school. For parents from P.S. 307, the move doesn’t address any of their concerns about the school or their children’s education.
These questions have been raised in other communities over the same issue. Administrators and education leaders looking to make a change will have to find answers and build trust in New York and beyond.