Race and Segregation in Pennsylvania’s Schools

• In Event: The Elusive Battle for Educational Equity in Pennsylvania: 40 Years of Changes and Challenges

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure levels of school segregation in Pennsylvania, a state with highly fragmented districts, by examining students’ exposure to different racial groups. We ask two questions: 1) To what extent are students of each racial group in Pennsylvania exposed to students of other racial groups? 2) To what extent is racial segregation in Pennsylvania’s metro areas a result of the distribution of students within districts, across districts, and across metro areas? We also consider change from 2000 to 2010 for each question.

Perspective: We situate our study within scholarship which suggests that school segregation is increasing nationally and is harmful for students (Orfield, 2009). Pennsylvania merits special attention because its districts are highly fragmented, which is associated with higher levels of racial segregation (Bischoff, 2008).

Methods: We use descriptive statistics and a P-star exposure index to determine students’ exposure to other racial groups and how this exposure has changed from 2000 to 2010. We then used decomposition techniques to estimate how much of the racial exposure difference is due to school-, district-, and metropolitan-level segregation.

Data Sources: We draw on the Common Core of Data from 2000 and 2010 to determine racial composition of schools. We also identify those schools located in Pennsylvania’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSA’s) in order to examine whether segregation occurs within districts, across districts, or across metro areas.

Results: In both 2000 and 2010, all students are over-exposed to their own racial groups. Minority groups are under-exposed to white students. Black students’ exposure to white students increased from 2000 to 2010 in Pennsylvania’s MSAs. Latino students’ exposure to their own group increased, while their exposure to white and black students decreased. Our decomposition analyses reveal that the vast majority of the difference in exposure to racial minority classmates occurs between districts, and this between-district difference increased from 2000-2010.

Significance: Our finding that the majority of segregation in Pennsylvania occurs between districts aligns with other national research (Reardon, Yun, & Eitle, 2000). Because cross-district integration solutions are not viable in light of the Milliken decision, policymakers must innovate in order to curb segregation (Frankenberg & DeBray, 2011). In particular, we suggest they consider district mergers or other cross-district policies. Such district consolidation is further examined in another session in the symposium, which considers a consolidation attempt in metropolitan Pittsburgh. Our findings are highly significant for policymakers throughout the country, particularly in northern states with highly fragmented districts.

Authors

• Katherine Reed, Texas A & M University

• Stephen Kotok, The Pennsylvania State University