Ed Talk: Social Engineering Was Not Always a Bad Thing – ARLnow

Ed Talk is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solelythe authors.

People assert social engineering to oppose ideas to increase the socioeconomic diversity within our schools or neighborhoods. Where has this indignant outcry been as Arlington County policies socially engineered us into the segregated neighborhoods and schools we have today?

Social engineering is always applied as though it is necessarily bad. The fact is, all public policies and practices socially shape our communities. Is it social engineering per se that people object to? Or the intended results that potentially threaten their status quo?

Arlington Countys development and zoning regulations and housing policies reinforce and perpetuate the same impacts of redlining from decades past. Concentrating affordable housing for the lowest income levels in a few specific areas of the county has created segregated neighborhoods and, by consequence, segregated schools.

We have socially engineered ourselves into a situation whereby some schools require a broad range of supportive services not traditionally provided by a public school. To support families, Community in Schools programs are implemented in high-needs, high-poverty schools. Arlington has done so at Carlin Springs Elementary School, and there is support for expanding that model to others.

Some argue it is more efficient to bring services and resources to the schools near where many people in need live and where their children are enrolled. This is not necessarily a bad idea. But even if this is the preferred model, what about children and families in need at more affluent schools where a Community in Schools program is unlikely to be implemented?

A more equitable approach would be to ensure that all services and supports are accessible by any student in need at any school in the district. Intentional segregation should not be implemented for the sake of efficiency. People should not have to live in low-income neighborhoods zoned to a specific school offering the unique services they need. Affordable housing should be sufficiently available throughout the County. Disadvantaged families should be able to send their children to any school and receive the same assistance in accessing the services and programs they need.

Instead, APS has introduced this Community in Schools approach and is likely to implement it in only select schools in the future. The problem is that this along with the Countys continuation of its historical housing policies and practices creates a self-perpetuating cycle. The County continues to concentrate on affordable housing in the same few areas and then special efforts by APS and community resources must be diverted accordingly. Families must live in certain neighborhoods and send their children to specific schools because that is where the housing and services they need are most accessible and where there is help to connect them to the programs and opportunities they rely upon. The more this cycle is reinforced, the more difficult and unlikely it is that steps will ever be taken to break it.

This also creates extra considerations and costs when school redistricting is necessary. Families do not want to lose the supports at their current school by being reassigned to one that does not offer them. Boundary changes can result in significant differences in a schools demographics that change the schools instructional needs in ways it is not prepared to meet, unnecessarily limiting redistricting and administrative options in efficiently managing the overall system.

Over the years, there has been much discussion about increasing diversity in our schools, ultimately ending with the assertion that nothing can be done until the County changes its housing policies. Even if the policies change, the impacts will be long in coming. High proportions of Arlingtons most disadvantaged children will remain on the west end of the Pike concentrated in the three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school those neighborhoods are districted to. In the meantime, APS and Arlington County should:

APS, County leaders, and community members give a lot of lip service to equity for all students and all residents. The most expedient and effective way to true equity is through integrated communities. Thats going to take a lot of social engineering or rather, re-engineering.

Maura McMahon is the mother of two children in Arlington Public Schools. An Arlington resident since 2001, McMahon has been active in a range of County and school issues. She has served on the ThomasJefferson, South Arlington, and Career Center working groups and currently serves as president of the Arlington County Council of PTAs.

More:

Ed Talk: Social Engineering Was Not Always a Bad Thing - ARLnow