A new report by Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute is making headlines. The report, “flies in the face of prevailing perceptions that the US has become less segregated since the Civil Rights era,” according to CNN and NYPost. The report found that a majority of regions with more than 200,000 residents were more segregated in 2019 than they were in 1990. The research tries to consider what might be causing the problem as it discusses racial residential segregation and red-lining. But it does not really discuss a solution.

Take, for example, this quote from one of the researchers. He is identifying the problem and he is concerned about inequality resulting from the problem. He believes deeply that change is needed. But he does not make any suggestions on how to improve racial residential segregation:

Too few people understand that racial residential segregation lies at the heart of this inequality. This is evidenced by how residential segregation determines access to schools, healthy neighborhoods, jobs and surveillance by police.

Race is certainly an important component of this conversation, but there is also “a chicken or the egg” type problem here. Why would these larger communities become more segregated? And what could they do about it? First, it is important to understand that healthy k-12 education systems play a huge role in healthy neighborhoods and cities. It is common that those who can afford to move away from bad schools do so. Take these racial residential maps and compare them to school districts. It would definitely give you some interesting data. In America, it is a well-known fact that financial segregation often falls along historically racialized lines as well, as discussed in the Berkeley report and in articles we’ve previously highlighted. 

But why should children in low-income neighborhoods be required to attend failing schools? Freeing families who are stuck in struggling school districts would help to equalize lifetime opportunities. Likewise, higher income families who typically leave low-income neighborhoods when their children reach school age would be able to remain in their preferred neighborhood. This would change the racial dynamics, the real estate value, the job opportunities, etc. 

Concerned about racial residential inequality? Consider an education policy that might break the cycle of financial and racial segregation created by school district zoning. Consider giving all families in struggling communities more school choice!