In this research brief, we describe and decompose school segregation by race and ethnicity in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, in which we include: the District of Columbia; Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax County in Virginia; and Montgomery County and Prince George's County in Maryland. We find only modest segregation within all but one…

When the District of Columbia's city councilors handed Mayor Adrian Fenty control of the city's public schools in 2007, they were hoping for salvation. Or maybe just absolution. Fenty appointed Michelle Rhee, then-president of The New Teacher Project, as chancellor. She and her longtime colleague and eventual successor Kaya Henderson spent the…

In 1955, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church called for the racial desegregation of Episcopal institutions: parishes, seminaries, and schools. The study of Episcopal school desegregation reveals a fundamental paradox: Episcopal theology promoted desegregation but "white flight" spurred Episcopal school growth. The question of…

This article outlines different forms of education privatization operating globally, examines their prevalence within the United States, and analyzes whether student marginalization and segregation occurs at the local level. We analyze six U.S. districts with higher saturation levels of charter schools, the most predominant type of privatization…

A major force in urban neighborhoods across the country, gentrification is also transforming the nation's capital. In 2011, Washington, DC reached a non-black majority for the first time in more than a half century, and since 2000, the city's white population has increased from just over a quarter to well over a third of the total population. This…

This article explores the complex contexts and relationships that enabled student civil rights advocates to emerge at Howard University in the 1930s and 1940s. Such histories are valuable given their realistic portrayal of the daily challenges, interpersonal collisions, collaborations, and organizational positioning that made some human rights…

This article examines the paradox of Teach For America's diversity gains and its support for policies that contribute to Black teacher decline in urban communities. TFA has countered claims that its expansion is connected to teacher displacement, but its two-pronged structure--as an alternative certification program and an influential policy actor…

The author analyzes the revealed school preferences of parents in the Washington, D.C., and asks, "What is the main determinant of charter school choice and how does it create racial, economic, and linguistic segregation?" The author first establishes a theory of choice, which incorporates past research and adds an additional variable to…

The nation and its public school enrollment are in the midst of dramatic racial change (Frey, 2001; Orfield, 2009). Soon, the nation's public schools will enroll a majority of non-White students, a demographic reality that has already occurred in the two largest regions of the country, the South and the West. As the nation's enrollment grows more…

"Choosing to Participate" focuses on civic choices--the decisions people make about themselves and others in their community, nation, and world. The choices people make, both large and small, may not seem important at the time, but little by little they shape them as individuals and responsible global citizens. "Choosing to…

The U.S. District of Columbia's Federal Circuit Court decision in "Hobson v. Hanson" (1967) case eliminated racial discriminatory tracking practices in the nation's capitol's public schools. The court ruled that D.C. Public Schools' tracking violated African American and low income students' rights to equal opportunities to education…

Surveys of Washington, D.C. households indicate that black households are twice as likely as white households to not get their first choice when moving into their current homes. More than one-fourth of black householders know someone who experienced discrimination during recent attempts to obtain housing or housing finance. Whites are over four…

Describes efforts of the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws (CCEAD), led by Mary Church Terrell, to abolish segregation in public eating places and other businesses in the nation's capital in the early 1950s. (GC)

THE COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS HAS FOUND THAT HOUSING IS THE ONE COMMODITY IN THE AMERICAN MARKET THAT IS NOT FREELY AVAILABLE ON EQUAL TERMS TO EVERYONE WHO CAN AFFORD TO PAY. TO A LARGE EXTENT, THE WASHINGTON, D.C., METROPOLITAN AREA IS RACIALLY SEGREGATED IN ITS HOUSING PATTERN, WITH DISCRIMINATION AS THE PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. THE…

IT IS HELD THAT DEFACTO SEGREGATION AND INTEGRATION HAVE NO PRACTICAL DEFINITIONS. RACIAL BALANCE ALONE DOES NOT OFFER AN ACCURATE DEFINITION OF SEGREGATION. STATISTICS WERE PRESENTED ON THE DEGREE OF RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE DISTRICT. THE INFLUX OF NEW PUPILS FROM OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT WAS CONSIDERED. SCHOOL POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN RELATION TO…