Neither “White” Schools nor “Black” Schools ... “Just” Schools: School Segregation in Delaware, 1989-2010

• In Event: School Segregation Along the Eastern Seaboard: Illuminating Historical Circumstances, Exploring New Challenges, Updating Tested Policies

Abstract

Delaware's history with school desegregation is complicated and contradictory. In the mid-1970s, federal courts ordered the small Border state to implement what became a groundbreaking metropolitan school desegregation plan. The court acknowledged that desegregating schools within the city would not alleviate the area-wide segregation between the black city schools and the white suburban schools. The issue was "not merely racially segregated public schools, but racially segregated public school systems.” But after nearly two decades under court oversight the Wilmington metro districts were granted unitary status and the plan was dismantled.

As one of seventeen states where segregation was law, Delaware was slow to desegregate its schools after the Brown decision. In 1961 the court accepted a school desegregation plan proposed in response to its order in Evans v. Buchanan. The plan proved ineffective and within a decade the case was reopened and produced the first metropolitan, multi-district desegregation court order in the United States. The final plan merged the Wilmington city and New Castle county school systems, created four new pie-shaped districts where each incorporated a portion of both the city and suburban areas, and instituted busing to desegregate students within each district (Green, 1985). By 1980, 95.1% of Delaware's black students attended predominantly white schools--the highest share achieved by all Border and Southern States (Orfield & Montford, 1981). Despite opposition from some Wilmington parents, Delaware sought release from the procedures that catapulted the state into the position of having the most integrated schools in the country. In 1995, the US District Court declared the four districts unitary. Five years later, legislation was introduced to change the assignment policies to ones that required students attend the school closest to their homes.

Today, a growing share of Delaware's black students attended schools isolated by race and class. Intensely segregated and apartheid schools did not exist when Wilmington was under the desegregation order. By 2010-11, however, intensely segregated settings grew to a troubling 15% of schools in the metropolitan area, and apartheid schools accounted for almost 8% of Wilmington’s public schools. Having increased 12-fold, majority-minority schools comprised 60% of the schools.

At the same time, Delaware has grown rapidly more diverse. The white share the public school enrollment decreased from 69% in 1989-90 to 50% in 2010-11. During that period, the black share of enrollment grew modestly from 26% to 32% while the Latino share of enrollment increased 333%, from 3% to 13%. The Asian share of enrollment doubled.

Evidence reviewed in this paper continues to document persistent harms associated with racially isolated schools, along with myriad benefits related to integrated ones. This paper suggests policy options to promote a healthy multiracial future for Delaware by harnessing the opportunities present in the rapidly shifting dynamics of its school enrollment. In particular, these strategies leverage intra- and inter-district magnet schools that support diverse student assignment practices.

Author

• Arielle Niemeyer, Virginia Commonwealth University