A parent-driven effort to boost middle school integration in Brooklyn is making a difference, according to new enrollment numbers from the New York City Department of Education.
District 15 includes some of the most expensive real estate in Brownstone Brooklyn, spanning Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. But it also encompasses public housing in Red Hook, and sizable Chinese and Latinx immigrant communities in Sunset Park. The area’s middle schools, like most across the city, have been deeply segregated for generations.
Parents pushed to change that, and last fall, with support from the education department, District 15’s middle schools overhauled their admissions policies. They eliminated competitive “screens” like grades and test scores, and switched to a lottery. Priority was given to students who are English Language Learners, homeless, or those who come from low income households.
In some schools, the difference was clear. At the southern end of Park Slope, MS 88 switched from having 83 percent of sixth graders come from the aforementioned priority groups last year to 60 percent this fall.
At MS 51, also in Park Slope, the reverse was true: last year only 34 percent of students came from low income households, were homeless or English language learners. This year, 56 percent met that criteria.
A map of Brooklyn's District 15
Despite talk of "white flight," the total percentage of white students in the District -- 31 percent -- stayed the same. Overall enrollment dropped slightly, but the education department said the dip is consistent with previous sixth grade classes. A few schools, like MS 88, saw their enrollments decline more sharply.
Meanwhile, Sunset Park Prep and Charles O. Dewey continue to be overwhelmingly Latinx, with only a few white students at each school. But Greg Selig, whose son Asher is one of the white sixth graders at Sunset Park Prep, said he’s thrilled so far. “I feel so incredibly lucky that Asher is at Prep, which has turned out to be such a perfect match for him,” he said. But Selig is also concerned about the overall drop in enrollment and hoped it didn’t signal a downward trend.
Politicians were more sanguine. Councilmember Brad Lander, a vocal proponent of the integration plan, said it “might be the most encouraging thing happening in New York City this fall.”
Schools chancellor Richard Carranza praised district leaders and parents. “Our schools are stronger when they reflect the diversity of our city, and communities in all five boroughs should look to this plan as an example of how we can achieve greater equity for all students,” he said.
Just as the new enrollment numbers were released, the City Council passed a bill requiring school districts across the city to develop their own integration plans. The legislation cited District 15 as an example.
Jessica Gould is a reporter in the newsroom at WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @ByJessicaGould.
