Does it really require 36 pages to explain that the Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD) race-based assignment plan is producing more integrated schools? Apparently. (PDF)
The district “integrates” elementary and magnet schools by considering income and education levels of parents and the race and ethnicity of “planning areas.” Berkeley looks at these so-called diversity factors and gives priority to a student based on certain characteristics. Berkeley High School, the district’s only government high school, offers a general curriculum and six specialized programs. The goal is for the programs to reflect racial and socioeconomic diversity of the high school. The result is that some students are denied admission based on the color of their skin.
Five months ago, the California Court of Appeals ruled that BUSD’s plan is not discriminatory. The court contended that because all students in a residential area get the same treatment (diversity coding), the practice isn’t illegal. It’s worth noting that California law bars the state from discriminating against or preferring individuals or groups in hiring, contracting, and admissions based on race.
According to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, the plan is a success, at least for elementary schools. The race-based plan “produces substantial racial-ethnic diversity” in those schools but isn’t as effective producing diversity of socioeconomic status. Berkeley’s elementary schools appeared integrated based on a 10 percentage-point criteria. In general, these schools have the “proper” share of races. Not so for socioeconomic status:
“Whereas the representation of low-income students varied by 10 percentage points and more from all elementary school students in just two schools, that number increases to six when applying the 5 percentage points criteria. One school had nearly 60% of students from low income families while another only had 36%. Two of the three schools where all racial-ethnic groups were balanced were schools that were out of economic balance due to having lower percentages of low-income students than among all BUSD elementary students. Thus, by this measure of student poverty, BUSD’s student assignment plan is not as effective as it is for diversifying most racial groups of students.”
Solutions to this imbalance? Simplifying the application process for low-income families, offering opportunities for these parents to learn about schools under the district’s “controlled choice” plan, and reaching out to low-income parents.
Racial diversity itself isn’t the problem. It’s the method government schools use to achieve diversity. BUSD could steer clear of legal challenges if it moved away from skin color designations and focused on socioeconomic status.
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