Cleary, Shelly; Cooper, Kristin; Lydell, Lesley; Myall, Hilde
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 428 154 UD 032 830 AUTHOR Powell, John; Kay, Vina; Cleary, Shelly; Cooper, Kristin; Lydell, Lesley; Myall, Hilde; Owsowitz, Sarah E.; Craig, William; Martin, Judith; Mueller, Van; Bond, Connie; Jackson, Tisha; Crain, Robert TITLE Examining the Relationship between Housing, Education, and Persistent Segregation. INSTITUTION Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis. Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. SPONS AGENCY McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, MN. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 81p.; Photocopied maps may not reproduce well. PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Access to Education; Economic Factors; *Educational Attainment; Elementary Secondary Education; *Housing; Inner City; Literature Reviews; Neighborhood Integration; *Racial Segregation; *Residential Patterns; Urban Areas; *Urban Problems IDENTIFIERS Minneapolis Public Schools MN; *Minnesota (Twin Cities); Saint Paul Public Schools MN ABSTRACT As the first stage of a study of segregation in housing and education in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (Minnesota), a review was conducted of national and local reports on the current status of housing and education segregation in the United States and the Twin Cities. A later phase of the project will analyze policy options available to improve housing and education in both cities. A review of national conditions shows that economic and racial segregation persists in the United States. Location of one's residence affects access to many opportunities, including good schools. The Twin Cities area shares many of the problems of other metropolitan areas, where educational and residential problems abound for minorities and the poor. Several policy options have been implemented to address these problems, but the results are mixed. Enhancing economic and housing opportunities of racial minorities and the poor requires suburban acceptance, support, and cooperation in treating inner-city poverty and racial segregation as problems of the entire area rather than the urban core alone. An appendix contains maps of the Twin Cities and its metropolitan area. (Contains 299 footnotes, 3 tables and 13 maps.) (SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWF-EN HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND PERsisTENT SEGREGATION A Preliminary Report The Institute on Race and Povaty Funding Provided by its McKrocur FOUNDATION Researchers john powell, Principal Invesqrator Vina Kay, Projed Director Shelly Cleary, Kristin Cooper, Lesley Lydell, Hilde Myall, Sarah E. Owsowitz, Research Assistants UNIVERSTIT OF MINNESOTA William Craig, Assistant Director, Center for Urban and Regional AfElirs Judith Martin, Professor, Department of Geography Van Mueller, Pmfessor, Department of Educational Policy and Administration faculty Advisors UNIVERS/TY OF MINNESMA Connie Bond, Tisha Jackson, Researdr Assistants COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TBACHERS COLLEGE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS Office of Educational Research and Improvement BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Robert Crain, Faadly Advisor Vi This document has been reproduced as received f rom the person or organization COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TBACHERS COLLEGE originating it. ID Minor changes have been made to improve al 1IV cfNon- CukA reproduction Quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ment do not necesSanly represent official OERI position or policy. The &Mune would like to thank Professor Robert Matastec University 4. Minnesota, and all the widow in his Geography 3564-Uthan GIS dass who pnwided the Census maps for this study BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND PERSISTENTSEGREGATION Preface The economic situation tf the Negroes in America is pathological.Except.* a small minority enjoying upper or middle class status, the masses cfAmerican Negma,in the ruml South and in the segregated slum quarters in Southern and Northern cities aredestitute They own little property; even their household goods am mostly inadequate anddilapidated.Their incomes are not only low but inegular.They thus live from day to day andhave scant security for the future' An African Amerkan reporter wrote in her journal:. I'm faced withthe fact that since I moved to Minnesota I've become ever so self-conscious of my Blackness. Itpmoccupies my thoughts. It ethreas the way I relate to just about everyone I meet. It makes meanalyze situations and experiences that two and a half years ago I would havedismissed without a second thought. Mom and more I feel that it's us against them. Originally written in 1944, Myrdars An American Dilemma chronicledthe fate of blacks in American society It described a racially divided America, findingthat blacks suffered not only fiom white prejudice but also numerous other economic, social, and politicalmaladies. Seeking to isolate the single reason for black poverty, Myrdal rejected the search for anysingle cause, arguing instead that racism, economic deprivation and other factors work together cumulatively to createblack poverty and isolation.2 Since 1944, other studies havedocumented the racial and economic isolation of blacks, noting the interrelationship between race and poverty that has createddistinct worlds and cultures for blacks and whites, even in Minnesota and the Twin Cities.' This report similarly hypothesizes that there is a connection between race and poverty that cumulatively operates to have an adverse impact upon the location and concentration of minorities in the United States. It examines the relationship between race and income in America, focusing specifically upon the connections between housing and education policies in the Twin Cities metropolitan region.While this report is tentative and the findings are not complete, evidence suggests that low income and minority populations are increasingly segregated in America's urban cores, including that of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.As a result, low income minoritypopulations in the urban cores suffer fiom numerous educational, economic, and political deficiencies that are aggravated by these numerous deficiencies working together to reinforce one another. The concentrating of low income and minority populations in the urban cores and inner suburbs is not simply a problem that the center cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul must address. Segregated housing and education is an issue even of concern to the surrounding suburban communities, and the failure to act to addres this problem can have profound legal, social and economic consequences for both the state and suburban communities. Legally, as the 1996 Connecticut case Sheff v. O'Neill demonstrates, state and suburban governments and school districts may be responsible for the discrimination that occurs as a result of isolating minority and low income populations in the center cities, even if they did not intentionally seek to discriminate against these groups. Hence, the failure to address educational inequities may implicate legal obligations that suburban school districts must meet. Socially and economically, ignoring the segregation of low income and minority populations in the urban cores is bad for all of us. It diminishes the capacity of these individuals to perform as productive adults, it perpetuates racism, and it damages the vitality of the cities which remain important to the economic health of the surrounding suburbs. In short, suburbs need healthy cities to survive and by working together to devise strategies to desegregate and deconcentrate low income and minority populations, both the cities and the surrounding suburbs win. ' Gunnar Mytdal, an Amerkan Dilemma:The Negro Problem and Modem Dememey, 205 ( New York: Harper & Row (1962). 2 Mydal at 75. ' Michael Harrington, the Otha America: Poverty in the United States (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1962). EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND PERSISTENT SEGREGATION par iii The solution to addressing the problems that racial and economicisolation produce is to integrate urban populations into the broader housing market and area schools.The Twin Cities,along with other regions around the country, have developed numerous housing and educational policies to secure this goal, yielding mixed results. In producingthis draft report, the Institute on Race and Poverty hopes to describe the problems of economic and racial isolation, how the two often reinforce one another, and what housing and education policy options have been developed to address this isolation. EXAMINING TUE REIATIONSIIIIPBETWEEN HOUSING, EDUCATION, ANDPERSISTENT SEGREGATION 1 Contents I. Introduction A. THE INSTITUTE ON RACE AND POVERTY B. THE MCKNIGHT PROJECT C. ThE NATIONAL RESEARCH REVIEW: PRELIMINARY FDIDINGS II.The Interrelationship between Racial and Economic Segregation A. Racial and Economic Isolation in MetropolitanRegions B.Connecting Housing and Educational Policy III. The Problem of School Segregation 9 A. WHY SEGREGATION LOWERS ACHIEVEMENT B. WHY DOESN'T SCHOOL DESEGREGATION REDUCE THEACHIEVEMENT GAP EVEN MORE THAN IT DOES? C. TIIE VALUES OF DESEGREGATION 1.Occupational Aspirations and Expectatioru 2.College Attendance and Educational Attainment 3.Social Mobility and