Elementary students in Minneapolis and St. Paul attend schools that are more racially segregated than they have been in a generation.
More than half of elementary schools in the two districts now have 80 percent or more minority students. In Minneapolis, a district that was fully integrated in the 1980s, two schools have student populations that are almost entirely white and 19 schools are more than 80 percent minority, according to a Star Tribune analysis of enrollment data.
Meanwhile, many once overwhelmingly white suburban districts are increasingly diverse, a development that researchers say should produce far better educational outcomes for minority students. In Shakopee, minority enrollment has more than doubled since 2000, and district officials have drawn boundaries to ensure those students are distributed among its six elementary schools.
The resegregation of urban schools, while a national phenomenon, has been cited as one reason students of color in Minneapolis and St. Paul so badly trail their white peers in test scores, graduation rates and other measures of progress. Test scores in the most minority-concentrated schools lag integrated schools in the metro by about 25 percentage points.
"We are at a real crossroads in Minnesota," said Shakopee schools superintendent Rod Thompson. "When Minneapolis and St. Paul are on the verge of failure, as a suburb we have to realize we are all in this together."
Backlash to segregation
A number of forces have combined to make Minneapolis and St. Paul schools increasingly segregated. Immigration has transformed the demographic profile of the school-age population in both cities, complicating integration efforts. In St. Paul, 76 percent of elementary school students are children of color.
The rise of independent charter schools, the advent of choice programs, which allow students to attend schools outside their home districts, and the lure of private or religious schools have also contributed to the situation. So, too, have policy choices, such as the decisions within the last decade or so to end busing or promote neighborhood schools.
Both districts are grappling with how to solve a problem that they admit has gotten worse over time. The St. Paul teachers union wants the district to end a program that put renewed emphasis on neighborhood schools. Minneapolis leaders are discussing adding special programs to North Side high schools to attract white families. They also might redraw school boundaries.