Public school segregation and social capital.

I. INTRODUCTION

During the past thirty years, public schools in the United States have become increasingly segregated by race and socioeconomic status. (1) The promise of equal education for all as illustrated in Brown v. Board of Education (2) has quietly slipped away, replaced by gradually more segregated public schools and a trend toward legal colorblindness in student assignment. (3) The current emphasis on academic outcomes, or test scores, (4) leads citizens and educators alike to ask whether racial integration is necessary--must students be sitting next to ethnically and racially different students in order to learn? The answer to that question depends on the purpose of public education. Research examining the effect of segregation on test scores is mixed. (5) However, if public education encompasses larger goals, such as developing a civil society and social capital, then indeed, the peer environment in public schools should be a major consideration of education policy. (6)

In this paper, I bring new evidence to bear on the questions of whether segregated schooling, in fact, may influence the individual social capital of students who experience it and whether segregated schooling is correlated with the social capital of the surrounding community. First, I will examine the goals of public education. Second, I will discuss the theory and research surrounding social capital. Third, using data from five southern school districts and matching data from the 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (SCCBS), (7) I will examine the relationship between community social capital and segregated public schools. Finally, I will conclude by speculating about the potential effect of resegregating public schools on both community and individual social capital.

II. PURPOSES OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

The first step in evaluating any public policy is to consider the policy's mission, goals, and objectives. Education policy researchers often skip this step, either assuming universal agreement that increased academic test scores are the sole goal of public education, or avoiding the discussion due to space or time constraints, with some noted exceptions. (8) Two statements of public education goals suggest the potential for broad categories that could be incorporated into a conceptual model.

First, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (9) included, among goals on school readiness, school completion, teacher readiness, and parental participation, a goal for student achievement and citizenship:

 
  By the year 2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having 
  demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including 
  English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and 
  government, economics, arts, history, and geography, and every school 
  in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds 
  well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further 
  learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern 
  economy. (10)