New Study Finds 5 Ways Racist 1930s Housing Policies Still Hurt Schools
The new study, “The Lingering Legacy of Redlining on School Funding, Diversity, and Performance,” released by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University as a working paper, is by Christopher Cleveland and Dylan Lukes, both PhD candidates in education policy at Harvard University.
To make the connection, the researchers used mapping software to sync over 10,000 current-day school locations with New Deal-era lending maps from 144 cities in 38 states. The study examined schools in 144 residential areas. Each locale is represented by a dot on the map. The researchers compared how schools and districts from redlined areas stacked up against schools in neighborhoods that, 80 years ago, mapmakers had viewed more favorably. Here’s what they found:
1. Schools in redlined areas face stark funding disparities compared to schools in areas rated more favorably. On average, they spend nearly $2,500 less per pupil than schools in top-rated zones, and over $3,000 less than schools in neighborhoods rated second-tier.
2. Schools in redlined areas were less likely to have diverse student bodies, tending instead to have higher percentages of Black, Hispanic and Asian students. While schools in neighborhoods the New Deal-era lending program rated as more “desirable” averaged more white students, they also tended to have a greater racial mixture in their classrooms.
3. Achievement gaps are parallel to the funding and diversity disparities. “We saw pretty stark differences” in test results, said Lukes. “The average is lower for [redlined] schools,” added Cleveland. The researchers analyzed year-to-year learning rates to estimate whether schools from redlined areas were making up ground. Rates were even across groups, they found, meaning that gaps appear set to stay in place.
4. Though funding gaps between schools in redlined versus non-redlined areas have remained persistent, money from the federal and state levels has helped make up some of that ground. Because of state funding formulas and federal programs like Title I, redlined schools tend to receive more federal and state money than schools in other zones.
5. The researchers recommend changes to more equitably deal with the consequences of the historical disparities. One possibly is to re-examine the relationship between school funding and property taxes. “There might be a chance to separate housing from (education) funding, in recognizing that certain schools are located in places where it’ll take a long time for them to get additional dollars” through local taxes," said one author.
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Source: Lehrer-Small, Asher. "New Study: 5 Ways Racist 1930s Housing Policies Still Haunt Schools." The 74. March 22, 2021.
