Michelle Rhee suggests that we ignore reality and mouth (or pen or type) platitudes. Michelle: you suck.

ZIP Code Shouldn’t Affect School Quality

Michelle Rhee is the founder and chief executive officer of StudentsFirst, an advocacy group.

UPDATED MAY 21, 2012, 11:25 AM

While the achievement gap between black and white students has narrowed somewhat over the past 50 years (it’s still far too large but is at least moving in the right direction), the academic divide between rich and poor students has widened drastically. Nearly half of our nation’s schools are characterized as high-poverty, up from a third a little more than a decade ago. And research shows children who attend these schools are not consistently being well served.

The quality of a child’s education should never be determined by the concentration of poverty in his or her school. Unfortunately, though, it is a predictive factor. And until we fix that, socioeconomic integration is one tool we should use to help close the achievement gap.

Research shows socioeconomic integration benefits low-income kids, as well as wealthier ones.

Research shows socioeconomic integration clearly benefits low-income kids. It benefits wealthier students as well; people educated in diverse schools say as adults they work better with people who are demographically different from them. Perhaps that’s one reason countless parents have told me they want their kids to attend schools that have diversity among the student body.

So, how do we achieve this kind of integration? Dozens of districts, like those in Cambridge, Mass., and La Crosse, Wisc., are trying, and there is evidence that some of the policies are working. They typically conduct controlled open enrollment policies in which kids apply for spots in schools throughout the district. School officials use family income as one factor when making assignments. Other factors might include school preference, sibling placement and home neighborhood.

In the end, education leaders should come together around this common-sense policy because it works and is the right thing to do. It’ll help ensure all young people have access to great schools and that everyone gets a fair shot at the bright future they deserve, no matter what ZIP code they are born into.