A NEA-PRRAC Report (April 2019). Excerpt: "Housing and land use policies have a significant effect on schools, and since these policies are usually decided at the state and local level, educators and education advocates have the opportunity to play a significant role." Read the Report... … [Read more...] about Housing and Schools: The Importance of Engagement for Educators and Education Advocates (NEA & PRRAC, April 2019)
Housing/Education Nexus
There is a reciprocal relationship between residential segregation and segregated schools. Federal housing policy and historical patterns of housing segregation have created stark divides between wealthy, largely white communities with high property values and predominantly minority communities with more limited resources. Due to the local nature of school funding, communities with higher property value can generate more funding for schools, leading to more comprehensive educational resources and higher test scores, which in turn drives up the price of homes in the school district. In this way the socioeconomic and racial divisions between neighborhoods and schools perpetuate themselves in a vicious cycle. Just as residential and school segregation are mutually reinforcing, so too are the effects of residential and school integration. Children attending integrated schools are more likely to live in integrated neighborhoods as adults, and send their own children to integrated schools. The effects are reciprocal, working positively in both directions.
For more on PRRAC’s work on this topic, visit our page on the Housing-School Nexus.
Housing and Educational Opportunity: Characteristics of Local Schools Near Families with Federal Housing Assistance (Ingrid Gould Ellen & Keren Horn, July 2018)
A PRRAC Report (July 2018). By Ingrid Gould Ellen and Keren Horn. Excerpt: "The Housing Act of 1949 espoused the goal of 'a decent home and a suitable living environment' for all Americans. Nearly 70 years later, we have made significant strides in improving the quality of American homes, but there continue to be large disparities across income and race, especially with … [Read more...] about Housing and Educational Opportunity: Characteristics of Local Schools Near Families with Federal Housing Assistance (Ingrid Gould Ellen & Keren Horn, July 2018)
Changing the Perception of Pasadena Unified School District Through an Innovative Realtor Outreach Program (PRRAC & NCSD, April 2018)
A PRRAC & NCSD Field Report (April 2018). By Jennifer Miyake-Trapp, Ed.D. Excerpt: "Not so long ago, Sandy Roffman worked with a local realtor to purchase a home for her young family in Pasadena, California. While the realtor praised Pasadena’s neighborhoods and many amenities, she cautioned her clients about enrolling their children in the local public schools, sharing … [Read more...] about Changing the Perception of Pasadena Unified School District Through an Innovative Realtor Outreach Program (PRRAC & NCSD, April 2018)
Disrupting the Reciprocal Relationship Between Housing and School Segregation (Philip Tegeler & Michael Hilton, November 2017)
A PRRAC Report. By Philip Tegeler and Michael Hilton (2017). Synopsis: This paper was originally presented at A Shared Future: Fostering Communities of Inclusion in an Era of Inequality, a national symposium hosted by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies in April 2017. The symposium examined how patterns of residential segregation by income and race in the United … [Read more...] about Disrupting the Reciprocal Relationship Between Housing and School Segregation (Philip Tegeler & Michael Hilton, November 2017)
Education Segregation of the nation’s children starts with preschool, new report finds (Washington Post)
By Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post April 29, 2015 Publicly funded preschools across the country are largely segregated by race and income, and poor children are typically enrolled in the lowest quality programs, according to a new report released Wednesday by researchers at the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University. … [Read more...] about Education Segregation of the nation’s children starts with preschool, new report finds (Washington Post)
