The recent executive order limiting DEIA within the U.S. has sparked conversations regarding the importance of diversity within public schools. This article considers Syracuse, New York, as an example. While Syracuse has a population one-fourth of Baltimore, it has many parallels.
The city of Syracuse is one of the nation’s most racially segregated, most redlined, economically polarized, and poorest cities. Its Syracuse City School District (SCSD) remains highly segregated as a result of neighborhood borders drawn a century ago. The borders’ effects still surface in the school’s demographics. SCSD continues to feel the effects of segregation despite the formal outlawing of redlining in 1968 through the Fair Housing Act. New federal orders limiting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility have local educators concerned for the future of these efforts.
SCSD (30 schools and 19,000 students) has seen low standardized test scores in recent years, according to U.S. News and World Report. From 2020-2022, 16% of students in SCSD elementary schools tested at or above a proficient level for English, while only 11% were found to be at that same level for math. Comparatively, the more suburban and predominantly white Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District (FMCSD) had 73% of students at or above the proficiency level for English, and 77% for math.
Christopher Cleveland, an assistant professor of education and education policy at Brown University, has said the current President’s policies are impacting the politicization of school segregation. While the president has not publicly spoken against integration efforts specifically, he said the cuts to federal funding likely will not help the cause. “(Integration) has not necessarily been considered a DEI issue. “So I think the question is how broadly framed DEI’s criticism is supposed to be relative to practices that have been in existence for the past 60-ish years.”
Syracuse remains one of thein the nation. When redlined maps are lined up with current maps showing the racial demographics of SCSD schools, the images reflect each other. The city still demonstrates a racial divide in schools, Searing said. The Century Foundation has reported that about 93% of Syracuse school segregation is a result of past segregation between districts. Neighborhoods that received a “D” rating from the Federal Housing Administration typically contain lower-performing schools and a majority Black student body. This contrasts neighborhoods that received an “A” rating, whose schools typically enrolled wealthier, white students and saw higher academic performance.
“Segregation has been illegal since 1964, but segregation still exists because the processes that created these realities have been in action for much longer,” Robert Searing, curator of history at the Onondaga Historical Association commented. Segregation within school districts can also be traced to districts’ current catchment borders that outline school districts, frequently shaped to protect white neighborhoods and separate them from communities with more Black and Brown residents.
Christine Ashby, director of the Center on Disability and Inclusion at Syracuse University said “In the redlined neighborhoods, students with disabilities, particularly students of color, were less likely to be included, less likely to be in general education, and more likely to have particular disability labels than kids in other neighborhoods.”
To be certain, in addition to redlining, white flight - more affluent and white people moving to suburban areas for improved education options - also has played and plays a large role in the segregation of SCSD.
“Restrictive racial covenants were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948, but they continued to be enforced, because, as with any law, the law is only as good as the enforcement mechanism,” Searing said. “Is redlining technically illegal? Sure it is, but the practices still continue.”
Read the March 21, 2025 Syracuse University The Daily Orange article.
