School Segregation in Durham

Since the 1980s, American schools have been steadily re-segregating, despite extensive research documenting the harms of this process. This is driven by factors such wealth and opportunity which are heavily correlated with race. However, research demonstrates that the socioeconomic makeup of a school may play a more significant role in achievement than the poverty of an individual student’s family. This project seeks to understand and remedy the growing racial and socio-economic divides in our schools. The team will first seek to understand how redistricting causes families to re-evaluate their choice in school by examining historical changes in enrollments across different demographics. The team will work on this problem in a historical context, but also while interacting with members of Durham Public Schools and elected school board officials.