Stamford School System takes different look at integration
December 11, 2007
Dec 12, 2007 -- /prbuzz/ --ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich, USA (December 11, 2007). As beneficial as it can be to create a diverse population in the workplace or classroom it can be equally divisive given ethnicity concerns. The Stamford, Connecticut, school system has taken an innovative approach to solving the problem.

The school board has decided to take a socio-economic approach to school integration. Stamford Public Schools will focus on three specific criteria: participants in the free/reduced lunch program, students living in income restricted housing, and ESL students. The school board feels they will achieve a diverse population without making ethnicity an issue.

According to Martin Levine, President of the Board of Education, the district has multiple ethnicities in each of these socio-economic distinctions. Levine points out, “the English as a Second Language program, as an example, has students from Polish, Haitian, and Albanian backgrounds, though most of the students are Hispanic.”

Stamford has a growing middle and upper class African-American and Asian populations however the school system is frustrated because the African-American middle class is more likely to select private schooling. “They are leaving because they feel their children are not being challenged,” says Levine.

He cites concerns that all minority or all poor schools lead to red-lining or steering by realtors. Problems are also created by low-income schools as Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) have less dollars with which to work as school boosters.

Studies show that by de-emphasizing race while keeping a balanced student body creates better learning environments.

MBC Global, an organization based in suburban Detroit, Michigan, notes that an emphasis on a single factor in establishing diversity or policy often leads to failure for an organization or business.

“When we use the term ‘multicultural’ to refer to a diverse members of a single culture, such as ethnicity or race, we create an environment where people focus on the differences between the members of the culture,” says Rick Weaver, MBC Global President. “By focusing on economic cultures with the validation it transgresses ethnic cultures, people of all ethnicities will begin to look at common issues crossing-over cultural lines.”

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About the Press Release
After the Supreme Court issued their University of Michigan decision about the use of race for integration, many have been wondering how to get diversity in education. Stamford Schools has a solution.


 
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