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Goal Statement

To promote educational equality for Latinos and other children through decreasing segregation.

Scope of the Problem  

• ^]According to data collected by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, levels of Hispanic population at each of the six public elementary schools in the Walla Walla Public School district are unequal. For example, one elementary school housed an average of 64.5% Hispanic students from the 1999-2000 through the 2008-2009 school year, while another had an average of 12.7% for the same period.^[1] 
• While it is important to consider the impact of different bilingual programs offered at each school and the pre-existing ethnic segregation of Walla Walla, these differences still persist and are statistically significant.^[2] 
• Because of an increase in one elementary school's capacity, new attendance boundaries were implimented for the elementary schools in the fall of 2009.
• These resulted in changes in the ethnic makeup of each school.  One school lost 16.8% of its Hispanic population, which brought the population down to 10% Hispanic in the fall of 2009 (compared to an average of 35.6% Hispanic students throughout the elementary schools).  Another school saw Hispanic population increase by 25.6%, which brought this school very close to the 35.6% average, at 41% Hispanic.  ^[3]
• These new boundaries also impacted the composition of income-levels in each school's student body. Low-income students who were eligible for free/reduced price meals, increased in the school with the most Latino population from 86.2% to 92% when the boundaries changed. Another school increased from 62.2% of the population who qualified for this program to 70%. Also, the school with the least Latino population also served the lowest poverty student population. In the 2008-2009 school year, at yet another school, 44.2% students qualified for the program, while in the fall of 2009 this population decreased to 34% of the total school demographic. 

Current Policy  summary of current policies in the form of legislation, programs, and funding

Policy Options   

• ^]

Key Organizations/Individuals   contacts for public and private organizations and key individual

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography   web sites, reports, articles, and other reference material 

1.       

Footnotes

1. Lowe, Susannah. "Redistricting Policies and Their Effect on Public School Segregation in Walla Walla, WA." Forthcoming. www.walatinos.org. ▲
2. Lowe, Susannah. "Redistricting Policies and Their Effect on Public School Segregation in Walla Walla, WA." Forthcoming. www.walatinos.org. ▲
3. Lowe, Susannah. "Redistricting Policies and Their Effect on Public School Segregation in Walla Walla, WA." Forthcoming. www.walatinos.org. ▲