Looking at MMSD’s elementary school racial diversity and low income percentages is very interesting. Generally, schools with higher low-income percentages have the highest racial diversity (meaning, evenness of four main races). Midvale-Lincoln, the school which our 3 kids traversed, has a high low-income percentage but a very well supported community (from all racial sides). This is a community, despite it’s economic struggles, continues to support itself. What we have to worry about are the schools in which the community is losing hope. Poverty is not as rough as despair, in terms of shaping the road to educational attainment. This goes for the economically advantaged, as well.

I took a closer look at 3rd grade reading scores on top of the low-income vs. diversity plot. Turns out that, when you compare schools in the same general category of low-income percentage, the schools that tend to do best in terms of reading scores are also the most diverse. I’ll have to put out a note about this soon.

This is not so much causation, I think. A high racial diversity means a that the community drawn to the school continues to find support and opportunities to contribute to a school. People who are drawn to the school can see promise in it, and participate in building a real learning community, even if they carry some baggage of racial stereotypes and fears about behavior. What is refreshing is that, people, despite fears and biases, continue to invest their energies in making our elementary schools successful. Skilled and well-supported educators with a strong curriculum are a must, too, and this cannot be understated.

Sorry for the preaching, but it is a bit disheartening that some in our community, despite real evidence of success and bucking the negative trends of white flight, still believe the racial diversity we have in the school district is somehow a disadvantage.

Schools are successful because kids are drawn to learning there, that they know their families and their neighbors are supportive of their learning, and that their learning has purpose – even just if the realization that they enjoy learning with their friends.