A Critical Policy Analysis of School Desegregation Reform in New York City

• In Event: People and Policy: Counternarratives of Challenges and Support

Abstract

This Critical Policy Analysis-informed document analysis shows how policymakers use “diversity” to address educational inequities. Diversity is not defined in NYC, allowing it to shift meaning depending on audience. The educational and social benefits of diversity advertised by the policy commodify diversity, making it valuable to privileged students and erasing the systemic inequality that created segregated schools in the first place. Finally, policy language holds schools more accountable to diverse enrollment but less accountable for metrics of inclusion, which are critical for addressing inequality. By examining the language of diversity through a critical lens, one can better understand how hegemonic power structures are preserved, even in “progressive” education policy.

Author

• Anna Kushner, Teachers College, Columbia University