January 30, 2022

Despite our population becoming far more diverse, people of color moving to the suburbs, and white households returning to the cities, it is extremely difficult to find a public school in Massachusetts today that is both racially and ethnically diverse and economically integrated.

This means most students will not get the benefit of learning alongside others with different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. For low-income students, our segregative patterns are downright toxic. Children from families with limited income are increasingly concentrated in high-poverty schools that cost them years of academic growth. Research shows this “economic segregation” pours more fuel on the fires of rising inequality than automation, globalization, and de-unionization combined.

Real estate developers that have long sought to build more complete communities can bemoan this situation, but they should not lose all hope. Change is in the air.