News Archive

To the extent that the word “desegregation” remains in our vocabulary, it describes an antique principle, not a current priority. Today, we are more likely to talk of diversity—but diversification and desegregation are not the same undertaking. To speak of diversity, in light of this country’s history of racial recidivism, is to focus on bringing ethnic variety to largely white institutions, rather than dismantling the structures that made them so white to begin with.

How NYC can break the cycle of school segregation

Brad Lander and Ritchie Torres, Daily News, August 16, 2015

"The average black or Latino student attends a school where nearly 70% of the students are low-income."

Separate. Unequal. Still. How public school segregation plagues New York City, and why it matters

Daily News, August 16, 2015

Mix, match, learn by integrating city public schools

Daily News, August 16, 2015

"Another obvious tactic would be to integrate thriving and struggling schools that are close enough to achieve the goal without busing white or minority children.

For example: Determine kindergarten admissions to PS 321 and PS 282 by lottery — so that children get randomly assigned to either school."

Why high school admissions actually doesn’t work for many city students — and how it could

Chalkbeat, August 7, 2015

I wasn't there, but I have an opinion

Joyce Szuflita, June 02, 2015

Provides a great overview of some of the more successful modes to create high performing and diverse schoolse.

A better middle school admissions process?

Brad Lander, May 22, 2015

What About Middle School?

HuffingtonPost, April 28, 2015

Students in NYC's elite high schools are from wealthier neighborhoods than regular school students: study

Daily News, April 22, 2015

“Students in specialized schools were more likely to come from the top 40% of neighborhoods in the city, in terms of family income,” said Raymond Domanico, the office’s director of education research. “They were less likely to come from the bottom 40% of neighborhoods, compared to students in other public high schools.”

Middle Schools Could Stop Weeding Out Kids Who Don't Rank Them First

DNA Info, April 20, 2015

"Real Answers to Improve Diversity at the Specialized High Schools"

Gotham Gazette, Mar 10, 2015

New Brooklyn Middle School Aims to 'Reflect Diversity'

DNA, February 20, 2015

M.S. 839, which opens this September at 713 Caton Ave. on the border of Kensington and Windsor Terrace, will be open to students who attend elementary school or live in District 15. There will be no interviews and test scores won't play a role in the admissions process. Seats will be filled using a random lottery.

How Brownstone Brooklyn Parents Aim to Take Over a Struggling Middle School

DNA, January 29, 2015

The two schools could hardly be more different: P.S. 29 is overwhelmingly white and its PTA raised nearly $1 million last year, while at International Studies, 82 percent of kids are black or Latino, more than three-quarters qualify for free lunch and less than 10 percent of kids passed the state's math and reading tests last year.

MAP: These Are The Most Popular Middle Schools in New York City

DNA, October 28, 2014

Selective Middle Schools Change Their Admission Policies, Confusing Parents

DNA, October 14, 2014

"You have to prepare them for failure . . .There are way too many applicants for the more desirable schools."

Parents of 5th Graders Feeling Truly F'D in Park Slope Today

F'd in Park Slope, September 29, 2014

Decades after Brown v. Board, a Brooklyn school integrates

MSNBC, June 23, 2014

"Eliminate Gifted Tracks and Expand to a Schoolwide Approach"

New York Times, June 4, 2014

One of the purposes of the city's G&T programs over the years has been to attract middle-class families to the public schools, but this strategy may be as counterproductive as it is inequitable. Recent research by sociologists Amy Stuart Wells and Allison Roda has found that some white, affluent families are opting for private schools because they are disturbed by segregated classrooms caused by the city’s G&T programs.

New York State Has the Most-Segregated Schools in the Nation

New York Magazine, April 23, 2014

As the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education nears this May, the dichotomy on Seventh Avenue mirrors a national trend. After three decades of high-stakes testing and market-driven federal education policies, according to Gary Orfield of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, classrooms in the United States are less integrated today than they were in 1968. Last month, Orfield’s think tank found that public schools in New York State are the most segregated in the country.

The Real Reasons New York has the Country’s Most Segregated Schools

Daily Beast, March 31, 2014

Indeed, racial segregation in New York is frequently accompanied by socioeconomic segregation. Across the state, the typical African-American student “attends a school where 69% of students are low-income.” For the typical Latino student, that number is 65 percent. For whites? Less than 30 percent.

Middle school rankings rankle parents

Inside Schools, June 11, 2013