School integration is elusive; these districts are still trying

Edutopia.org I October 26, 2018

In middle school, Iman Abdul started to notice that certain classmates were treated differently from her. “My black peer got a 75 and was told that was good, but when I got a 75, the teacher said, ‘You can do better,’” said Abdul, who remembers going through metal detectors every morning and seeing the same kids getting suspended again and again. Later, at her predominantly white Brooklyn high school, the dynamics shifted. “As students of color, we felt uncomfortable,” she said.

These experiences in schools where one race dominated—black in middle school, white in high school—led Abdul, now a college junior, to become part of Integrate NYC, a youth-run nonprofit calling for greater integration in New York City’s schools. Ideally, she says, “every school would reflect the demographics of its city,” which should help all students learn better.

Research backs Abdul up. . . Read more.