Poverty, Segregation, and Test Scores in DC

While looking at the latest released NCLB test scores in Washington, DC, I was struck by the enormous number of students who are stuck in completely segregated schools, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for civil rights and justice.

100% black student body and 100% of them on free or reduced-price lunches (i.e., poor) is the most obvious group of schools.

Followed by another very large group of schools that are 90-99% black & hispanic and 100% poor.

Very, very few schools have an actual mix of white, hispanic, black, and asian students.

This is true for both the regular public schools in DC and for the publicly-funded but privately-run charter schools.

Out of a  total of 181 DC schools for which I have data, 23 have ‘perfectly’ segregated student bodies — that is, every single kid is black and/or hispanic,  AND every single kid is eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.

Here is the list:

Aiton Elementary Arts + Technology Public Charter Beers Elementary Burrville Elementary C. W.  Harris Elementary Center City (Congress Heights campus) Public  Charter Center City (Shaw campus) Public Charter Ferebee-Hope Elementary Garfield Elementary Howard  Road (MLK campus) Public Charter Howard Road (main campus) Public Charter Integrated Design Electronics Academy (IDEA) Public Charter Johnson Middle Martin Luther King Elementary Ludlow-Taylor Elementary Malcolm X Elementary Maya Angelou (Evans campus) Public Charter Meridian Public Charter Options Public Charter Randle Highlands Elementary Septima Clark Public Charter Simon Elementary Stanton Elementary