Alexandra Rodriguez • SOCG 371, Section 2
High school boundaries in Arlington, Virginia: is there a racial and class component to the way the school boundaries are chosen and adjusted? How can this separation be accomplished?
Arlington County in the state of Virginia
Arlington is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia that is known as a part of “NOVA” or Northern Virginia. NOVA is characterized by its wealth over the rest of Virginia. This is supported by city specific data that shows the median income for Arlington residents to be $102,501 while the median income for Virginia is $62, 666. The unemployment rate is also less than the state unemployment rate, 3.6% compared to 5.4% (www.city-data.com). Arlington ranked number seven on Forbes’ 2014 list of riches counties in America in 2014 (Wtopstaff, 2014). Something the census or any other official website will not tell you is that to Arlington residents, Arlington is divided between “north Arlington” and “south Arlington,” that are divided by Route 50. “North Arlington,” north of Route 50, is characterized as being predominantly white and wealthy residents, while “south Arlington,” south of Route 50, is characterized as being predominantly minority residents.
This racial divide can be observed in the three different public high schools in the county: Wakefield High School, Yorktown High School, and Washington-Lee High School. Each school represents a different racial dynamic. Wakefield is known as the minority school, Yorktown is known as the white school and Washington-Lee falls somewhere in the middle. There are many factors that can create this situation where minorities are more present in one school over another such as the separation of neighborhoods based on income and affordable housing concentration, racial biases, and who is in charge of setting the school boundaries for the county. Is there a basis to the resident talk about sending the majority of minorities to one of the schools true? Does there seem to be a racial/class aspect to how the boundaries are set and modified? How could this be accomplished?
Racial Makeup of Arlington County
Before looking at the high schools in question, it is important to be aware of the racial makeup of Arlington County overall and within the zip codes it is divided into since several of the school boundaries are on or close to the zip code boundaries. According to City Data, Arlington is composed of four major races: 63.3% White alone, 15.6% Hispanic, 9.5% Asian alone and 8.5% Black. There are 11 zip codes in the county that City Data also breaks down the racial composition for. Looking into these specifications could shed light on if there is a racial separation within the zip codes.
These break downs of each zip code show that the largest concentration of the minority population live in the 22204 zip code that falls on the south side of the Route 50 border. The minority races makes up 61% of the population in this zip code whereas all the other zip codes in Arlington are over 50% white alone (www.city-data.com). The 22204 zip code is also the second largest in terms of land area with 4.1 square miles, smaller only than the 22207 zip code which covers 6.5 square miles (www.city-data.com). Although the 22207 zip code is larger in terms of land, the population density is much lower, 5,123 people per square mile compared to 12,030 people per square mile (www.city-data.com).
Based on the data, there is a clear separation and concentration of races within the zip codes of the county. The largest concentration of the African American population falls in the 22204 zip code, south of Route 50. The Hispanic community is definitely present in that same zip code but they are also very present in the 22203 zip code. This could impact which students go to which high schools because several of the boundary lines fall on or near the zip code boundaries.
Income and affordable housing in Arlington County
Income can affect the racial distribution of students in schools because income can determine which area of a county you live in. The cost of living in some areas may be higher in one zip code than others. Therefore, families that have a lower income live in a zip code with other lower-income earning individuals. There can be a racial component to these neighborhoods. In Arlington Country, there are four zip codes that have a median income less than $100,000 (www.city-data.com). Within those zip codes, three of them have a large concentration of the minority populations (www.city-data.com). The median income for these neighborhoods is from $25,000 to $95,000 (www.city-data.com).
The median income for the county as a whole has been steadily increasing over the years, making it more difficult for low-income individuals and families to be able to live in Arlington. In 2013, only nine percent of the county’s housing was affordable to low and moderate income earners (Sullivan, 2015). The county’s current stock of affordable units sits at 10,000 units (Sullivan, 2015). After looking at the location of the units, a majority of them are located around Colombia Pike, south of Route 50 in what residents call “South Arlington.” (https://housing.arlingtonva.us). There are no complexes that are composed of only affordable units, but there are apartment complexes scattered around Arlington that have some affordable units. The numbers range from as low as 6 units in a complex to a high of 200 units (https://housing.arlingtonva.us). There are currently only 4 available affordable apartments units in Arlington County with rent ranging from $919 to $1,410 a month. They are also limited by household size, three allow for two people and one allows for four people (https://housing.arlingtonva.us).
Public High Schools in Arlington County
There are three public high schools in Arlington County: Wakefield High School, Yorktown High School, and Washington-Lee High School. Residents say that these schools represent the racial and geographical divisions within the county.
Wakefield High school is located on South Dinwiddie Street in the 22206 zip code right on the border with the 22204 zip code (Wakefield. School Overviews). The boundary for this school is on route 50 and includes everything beneath it (Boundary (Attendance Area) Locator / Overview). Their school profiles highlights their Cohort Program that is designed to support African American and Hispanic males in school as well as a United Minority Girls initiatives to assist minority students with college and scholarship application processes (Wakefield. School Overviews). The school is made up of 10.8 percent Asians, 23.9 percent African American, 44.2 percent Hispanic, and 16.6 percent White out of a total of 1,533 students (Wakefield. School Overviews). Since most of their student body comes from the 22204 zip code, which has a high concentration of minority individuals, it makes sense that they would have a high percentage of minority students and would have programs designed specifically for them. This school is referred to by many residents as the “ghetto” school because of the contrast between the student body at Wakefield High School compared to Yorktown High School.
Yorktown High School is located on Yorktown Boulevard in the 22207 zip code that was mentioned earlier as being the largest zip code in terms of square miles (About Yorktown; www.city-data.com). Yorktown’s school profile highlights that they support “a diverse student body; both in ethnicity (Asian 8%, Black 5%, Hispanic 17%, Multi Race 5%, White 65% ) and in learning programs (Gifted 24%, Special Education 14%, Limited English Proficient 6%).” The percentages are based off a total of 1,784 students (About Yorktown) meaning they have 89 Black students. This small amount coincides with the boundaries of the school that fall close to the 22205 and 22207 boundaries but also includes the 22209 zip code which falls inside the Washington-Lee High School boundary. This is a mainly white population. A portion of this zip code has a median income of $150,679 (www.city-data.com) one of the highest in the county.
Washington-Lee High School is located on North Stafford Street in the 22201 zip code. Its boundaries lie approximate with the 22201 and 22203 boundaries (Washington-Lee High School. School Profile; www.city-data.com). It also says in their school profile that they have a diverse student body that “offers a broad world perspective and fosters an enriched learning environment.” (Washington-Lee High School. School Profile). The racial makeup of their school is 10.6 percent Black, 34.1 percent Hispanic, 10.4 percent Asian, and 38.9% White (Washington-Lee High School. School Profile). This makes it the most diverse school in the county. They also note that they have a 32.88 percent economically disadvantaged student body (Washington-Lee High School. School Profile). This could be due to the fact that the 22203 zip code has a large portion of Hispanics that are districted to attend high school there.
Who makes the school districts?
It appears that all three high schools are racially representative of the zip codes within their school boundaries. Washington-Lee has a large portion of Hispanics, Yorktown is mostly white students, and Wakefield is mostly minority students. So why is it that schools were districted in this way? Why weren’t they all districted to show some diversity as Washington-Lee currently does? If Yorktown has a random zip code within what appears to be the section of the county that falls under Washington-Lee boundaries, then why can’t that be done with sections of the county where there is a higher concentration of minority students to attempt to equalize their presence in all the public high schools?
Re-drawing the school districts of Arlington County was very popular in the news 2013 and is beginning to be again now in 2015. As Arlington public school enrollment continues to rise, the county has been facing a problem of overcrowding. In the next ten years, they approximate an enrollment increase of 26 percent but they are still trying to deal with the overcrowding currently present (INSIDENOVA, 2015). This calls for redrawing the school districts and building new schools (Millar, 2012). “It’s a process that also allows the schools with the highest concentration of white students — all in wealthier North Arlington — to play a dominant role in the earliest-needed boundary decisions.” (Millar, 2012).
In order to proceed with redrawing the districts, the Superintendent needs to determine that changes need to be made and his staff proceeds with researching and writing a proposal that is submitted to the School Board (Arlington Public Schools 30-2.2 Boundaries, 2012). The School Board reviews the proposal and makes it public so that community members can also make recommendations (Rothstein, 2014). The recommendations are reviewed by the superintendent’s staff and discussed at community meetings (Rothstein, 2014). Existing school attendanceboundary lines prevent the vast majority of students living inside one zone from attending schools outside their district. Instead, Arlington school zones are designed heavily to favor “neighborhood schools”. (Millar, 2012) Highlights of past community meetings from 2013 support this: “One man said he uprooted his family to move to Arlington so his children could attend Glebe Elementary,” and “Residents said they were angry because the school system wasn't taking a holistic approach, and that too many students who can walk to school currently would be forced to ride a bus two or three miles under the potential changes. They said they wanted their children to be able to go to school with the neighborhood kids they are friends with, play sports with, are in Boy Scouts with or have backyard barbecues with.” (Spencer, 2013). Minority families do not have the luxury of moving their family so their child can go to a specific school so they are all put into one school. “Arlington has many schools that are increasingly segregated by raceand class,according to federal and local data.” (Millar, 2012).
Conclusion
The evidence is there. Arlington County schools are segregated by race and class, some more than others. Neighborhoods are districted in a way so that low income earning families have to send their children to schools where the rest of the student body is made up of a large portion of other children who come from low-income earning families. The answer about if there is a racial/class component present in the way school boundaries are set in Arlington is yes. The question of why is always tricky because studies have shown that integration is what impacts student achievement in a positive way (Millar, 2012). You learn from your peers so if students are in a class with high-achieving classmates, it pushes them to achieve as well (Millar, 2012). Not only does integration positively affect the minority students but it can also affect the white students by exposing them to diversity, something they are bound to need experience in when it comes to working and prospering in such a diverse country and global economy.
Works Cited
Arlington, Virginia. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.city-data.com/city/Arlington-Virginia.html
About Yorktown / Mission and Beliefs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apsva.us/domain/2432
Affordable Units. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://housing.arlingtonva.us/get-help/rental-services/affordable-units/
Boundary (Attendance Area) Locator / Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.apsva.us/page/3001
Sullivan, P. (2015, September 18). Arlington board to vote Saturday on plan to add more
affordable housing. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/arlington-board-to-vote-saturday-on-plan-to-add-more-affordable-housing/2015/09/18/80a7c764-5cbd-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html