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Education Inequality on Long Island:
Public Awareness and Support for Solutions
Long Island Index which compared Long Island residents with those of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, Virginia. Despite minority populations of similar size in Virginia and Long Island, residents of the two Virginia counties rated their schools as more equal that did Long Island residents. Long Island Index documents modest awareness of local educational inequities among Long Island residents. White Long Islanders have relatively little direct personal experience with diverse schools and a majority believes that children from different racial and socio-economic backgrounds receive the same quality of education (despite evidence to the contrary). Indeed, a majority of local residents believe a child from a low-income family receives the same or better educational quality as a child from a middle-income family, and that a Black or Latino student receives the same or better education than a White child.
Thus, one of the key findings to emerge from this report is that most Long Islanders are unaware of the magnitude of educational disparities across local school districts and the degree to which local schools are racially segregated. Just over a third believe that Black students attend majority Black schools, and four in ten believe Blacks students attend schools that are an even mix of Blacks and Whites. In reality, most Black and Latino students attend schools in districts in which the majority of students are Black or Latino. This misperception results in a belief among most local residents that enough is being done to integrate the schools.
On the other hand, a majority of local residents acknowledge that more is spent on some students than others, and about a half believe that there are inequities in local educational quality overall. Local opinion is thus characterized by some acknowledgement of local school inequality coupled with the view that such problems are not especially dire. There is majority support for solutions to school inequities such as the creation of magnet schools and consolidation of school districts to create greater school diversity. One of the most popular solutions is to pool commercial property taxes across school districts. But when modest
Throughout the poll there are clear differences among Black and White Long Islanders in their perception of school inequities, satisfaction with local schools, and the need for future action to deal with school disparities. Seven in ten Whites, over six in ten Latinos but fewer than a half of all Blacks rate local educational quality in their school district as good or excellent. Over four in ten Blacks believe that a lot more is spent on some students than others in local schools, a view that is endorsed by fewer Whites and Latinos.
Between 75% and 80% of Black residents support magnet schools, school consolidation, allowing children in failing districts to change schools, allowing White parents to send their children to more diverse schools outside their district, and encouraging the development of housing for lower income families in good school districts. In contrast, support for these various solutions is weaker among Whites, ranging from 57% to 64%. Latinos express stronger support than Whites for such solutions, but their support is not as strong as observed among Blacks. Overall, it is not surprising to find that Black and Latino Long Islanders, who may have the most to gain from increased school equality, are also most supportive of a range of policy solutions designed to reduce current educational inequities.
There is also more pronounced dissatisfaction with local schools and stronger support for action among residents of the high-need school districts. These districts are characterized by higher poverty rates and a much higher concentration of minority students than either average or low need districts. There is an almost 20 point gap in the percentage of residents in high- and low-need districts who rate the quality of local education as good or excellent. Residents of high-need school districts view local education as much poorer value than residents of low-need areas. When it comes to public education on Long Island, residents who live in school districts with a largely poor and minority student population are markedly less satisfied with the quality of education provided for children in their area.
The challenge that lies ahead is how to make Long Island a more inclusive place where all feel at home, all children have equal educational opportunities, and all residents are able to contribute to the growth of a vibrant local economy.
Long Island Index which compared Long Island residents with those of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, Virginia. Despite minority populations of similar size in Virginia and Long Island, residents of the two Virginia counties rated their schools as more equal that did Long Island residents. Long Island Index documents modest awareness of local educational inequities among Long Island residents. White Long Islanders have relatively little direct personal experience with diverse schools and a majority believes that children from different racial and socio-economic backgrounds receive the same quality of education (despite evidence to the contrary). Indeed, a majority of local residents believe a child from a low-income family receives the same or better educational quality as a child from a middle-income family, and that a Black or Latino student receives the same or better education than a White child. majority support for change is combined with the feeling that school inequities are not that