Using fair housing and zoning policies to create diverse communities as the most sustainable path to diverse, equitable schools.
Integrating Schools by Integrating Neighborhoods: Mamdanis Housing Link
Zhoran Mamdani argues that school segregation is a direct result of residential segregation, which is enforced by racist zoning, lending, and housing policies. Therefore, the most effective and just strategy for school integration is to create integrated neighborhoods. His education and housing policies are explicitly linked. By banning exclusionary zoning, building massive amounts of mixed-income social housing in every neighborhood, and implementing aggressive anti-displacement protections, he aims to create communities that are economically and racially diverse by design. Neighborhood schools would then naturally reflect that diversity.
This approach avoids the political battles and busing controversies of forced school integration plans, instead creating the conditions for organic integration. It is coupled with a controlled choice enrollment system within diverse zones, ensuring equity of access to high-quality programs. We have tried to integrate schools while keeping neighborhoods segregated. Its a failing strategy, Mamdani states. True integration starts with who lives next door. By building housing for everyone in every neighborhood, we create the foundation for schools where children from all backgrounds learn together, preparing them for the diverse world they will lead.
