FAIRFIELD — Connecticut's 54-year-old school desegregation law may need an update to prevent forcing transfers predominantly upon students of color, education experts say.
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It's illustrated with a dilemma playing out in Fairfield, where the law requires the Board of Education to resolve a racial imbalance stemming from the most diverse elementary school in the district — McKinley Elementary School, where about 56.6 percent of the students are from racial minority backgrounds.
Experts said the state desegregation law places Connecticut in "unique" territory of enforcing a racial balance across its school districts that overlooks modern methods of school integration, involving funding through a more socioeconomic lens instead of one that places students into racial categories.
"The policy is only about moving and shifting chairs," said David Kirkland, the founder and CEO of forwardED, a company that develops equitable education strategies. "It's not a racial equity policy. It's a kind of cosmetic act that we see that came out of the desegregation era that does little to nothing to really change the status quo."
The Fairfield school board is in the process of reviewing three options to resolve its imbalance via redistricting before adopting newly redrawn school district lines by the 2024-25 school year. Parents have argued that each option places an excessive burden on students of color, who would...
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