Diversifying Neighborhoods, Diversifying Schools? The Relationship Between Neighborhood Racial Change and School Segregation in New York City

Abstract

College-educated White households have increasingly opted to live in central urban neighborhoods, transforming many parts of the urban core. While there is emerging evidence that schools may play a key part in this process, little is known about the extent of racial contract between children of gentrifier households and original residents. This study examines NYC’s gentrifying areas, and the changing racial diversity in schools. Using data from the Census and the National Center for Educational Statistics, this study finds that schools in NYC’s gentrifying areas have seen a reduction in racial segregation, more in traditional public schools than in charters. While this trend may be promising, high levels of segregation persist. Policy and research implications are discussed.

“Holding the Line”: Investigating How Urban School Leaders’ Respond to Gentrification in New York City Schools

“…Although the New York City school system continues to be one of the most segregated in the country, there has been a decline in the overall number of segregated schools in the last two decades, particularly in gentrifying areas where there is an influx of White, high income residents (Kucsera & Orfield, 2014; Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019). From 2000 to 2016, New York City has experienced rapid gentrification in parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens (Florida, 2005).…”

“…From 2000 to 2016, New York City has experienced rapid gentrification in parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens (Florida, 2005). The White school-aged population in the 25 most rapidly gentrifying areas, located in the Bushwick, Crown Heights, Ridgewood, Bedford, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, increased from 10% to 29%, and the Black and Latinx population decreased from 87% to 64% during that same time period (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019). The proportion of White and Asian students attending traditional public schools in these same gentrifying census tracts has also grown since 2000, from 5.7% up to 10.4% (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019).…”

“…The White school-aged population in the 25 most rapidly gentrifying areas, located in the Bushwick, Crown Heights, Ridgewood, Bedford, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, increased from 10% to 29%, and the Black and Latinx population decreased from 87% to 64% during that same time period (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019). The proportion of White and Asian students attending traditional public schools in these same gentrifying census tracts has also grown since 2000, from 5.7% up to 10.4% (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019). As student demographics have shifted, researchers, policymakers, and community advocates have called on the New York City mayor and chancellor to institute student assignment policies with diversity controls that are designed to combat the possibility of re-segregation (Kucsera & Orfield, 2014; School Diversity Advisory Group, 2019).…”

“…Along with neighborhood gentrification, in major U.S. cities, a growing number of White gentrifiers with children have opted into neighborhood schools that historically enrolled mostly students of color (Cucchiara & Horvat, 2009; Freidus, 2016; Kimelberg & Billingham, 2013; Roda, 2018). In New York City, where this research took place, neighborhood gentrification has resulted in an influx of White and Asian students in some schools, and has prompted policymakers to develop integration goals as demographics shift (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019).…”

“An Opportunity to Grow Our Collective Consciousness”: Navigating Racial Tension in a Gentrifying Elementary School

“…Gentrification, often defined as neighborhood increases in housing values, income, and educational levels, is controversial (Freeman, 2005). Although classical definitions of gentrification have emphasized social class as its most salient feature, scholars increasingly consider growth in the percentage of white households as a hallmark (Ellen & Ding, 2016; Mordechay & Ayscue, 2022; Pearman & Swain, 2017). Gentrification also generates considerable controversy surrounding its impact and potentially contradictory consequences.…”