Giving Compass' Take:

• InsideSources reports on a new study from the D.C. Policy Center, which shows that the city's public schools are becoming more economically diverse, but ethnically diverse.

• What might this say about trends across the country in general? How might we help bring more inclusivity to the public schools system through policy and funding?

• In New York, a new focus on housing could help address this problem.

Washington, D.C. is richer, better educated and more diverse than ever.  The same, however, cannot be said of its public schools.

A new study by D.C. Policy Center, a local non-partisan think-tank, finds that while city schools are becoming more economically diverse, they still lack racial and ethnic diversity. “As D.C. continues to change, the schools that intentionally seek to serve a diverse student body will have to be thoughtful about how they get and maintain those students,” said Sonia C. Park, executive director of the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition.

The demographics of the city make diversity a tricky goal. The city’s school age population was 68 percent African-American during the 2016-2017 academic year, with an additional 18 percent being Latino and only 10 percent white. Within the public school system, however, African American students made up 90 percent of the student population.

Rather than trying to develop a racial quota system, the authors of the study tried to measure “how exposed students are to other groups in terms of race and ethnicity as well as economic status.” They believe that diversity in schools leads to increased educational achievement for African American students and fosters positive self-identity and equitable opportunity.

Read the full article about public schools in D.C. struggling with diversity by Erin Mundahl at InsideSources.