Analysis of SFUSD Resegregation Trends
(from the March 2004
Supplemental Report of the Consent Decree Monitoring Team)
Number of SFUSD Schools
Severely Resegregated At One or More Grade Levels (by race/ethnicity)
|
|
For 2001-2002 |
For 2002-2003 |
For 2003-2004 |
|
# of Severely Resegregated
Schools (Projected) |
26 |
26 |
35-38 |
|
# of Severely Resegregated
Schools (Actual) |
30 |
34 |
41-43 |
As the tables…show,
resegregation is even worse than projected…[last
summer]... 41-43 schools are severely
resegregated now at one or more grade levels, and about 25 schools are now
resegregated in their entirety. These
numbers have increased significantly in the past two years, and the trends show
no signs of abating.
In addition, we
continue to find evidence of the same troubling academic achievement patterns
in resegregating schools that we documented in Report #20…
Indeed the
continuing drift back to segregation outlined at great length in Report #20 is
a major cause for concern. And all the
parties have indicated that they agree.
Yet, although efforts to streamline the administrative procedures and
improve outreach continue, there is no evidence that any adjustments have been
made -- during this, the third-year of the new student assignment process
placements -- to the computerized enrollment process and its applicable
variables structurally.
In Paragraph 13 (m) of the Consent Decree, revised pursuant to the 2001 Settlement Agreement, the parties agreed that evidence of "identifiable racial or ethnic concentration... that...adversely affects ...educational goals or programs" would set in motion a process that could lead to the use of race in a narrowly tailored fashion for the purposes of student assignment. And we have certainly found not only identifiable racial or ethnic concentration, documented in each of our reports since 1999, that is clearly linked to the District’s inability to use race as a factor in the student assignment process, but also that the resulting resegregation is having a real, palpable, and adverse effect on the District’s educational programs.
This adverse effect is reflected not only in our findings in Report #20 regarding racially identifiable schools and the interface between resegregation and academic achievement, but in an analysis of the most recent Academic Performance Index (API) rankings released by the State of California on March 9, 2004. This analysis reveals a direct connection between the higher resegregation numbers and a concurrent increase in the number of schools scoring at a the lowest level on the API. As documented in prior reports, all schools in the state are assigned a number from 1 (lowest performing) to 10 (highest performing) that reflects their overall numbers on a battery of standardized tests. In SFUSD, this month, the number of schools scoring at a 1 increased significantly, particularly at the elementary level, where the number of schools at “1-1” (1 on both the basic state rankings and the similar schools ranking) doubled from five to ten. And of those ten schools, nine have either resegregated or have shown significant resegregation trends. Indeed, four elementary schools that have dropped from last year to a “1-1” on these rankings this year include Chavez (severely resegregated with over 80% Latino students), Cobb (severely resegregated with over 60% African American students), Golden Gate (resegregating African American), and Sanchez Elementary (severely resegregated with over 70% Latino students). At the middle school level, the “1-1” schools are Davis (severely resegregated with over 60% African American students), Everett (resegregating Latino), and Franklin (resegregating African American). At the high school level, the one high school that is severely resegregating, John O’Connell (over 70% Latino students), dropped this year to a “1” on the API rankings.
By contrast, we have found that…schools which have been most successful at closing the persistent achievement gap are ones that have maintained substantially racially and ethnically diverse student populations.
In light of these findings, we urge all relevant parties in