Will school integration become a catalyst for district restructuring?
The Buffalo Chronicle
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Desegregation has become an increasingly pressing issue for the Buffalo Public Schools. The national civil rights expert Gary Orfeild offered the district a bleak assessment of decades long trends that has led to starkly segregated schools.
The objective of integration is an opportunity to restructure the long dysfunctional Buffalo Public School district, which is too large and unwieldy to manage well.
Could this be an opportunity to restructure the district into more manageable districts? Would integration through bussing be more workable if it wasn’t districtwide?
Breaking the citywide district into six independent districts could strike the right balance between neighborhood schools and diverse classrooms. Six districts of around 5,500 students each could be more easily manageable and provide families stability.Partitioning the district into three roughly equal parts of 11,000 students each could give campuses the focus and stability that is lacking in the current governance model.Redistricting neighborhoods on the city’s periphery into adjacent suburban school districts could help integrate the region’s classrooms. Shrinking the current district of 33,000 students to around 20,000 students could also make the urban district more manageable.
