School Segregation under Color-Blind Jurisprudence: The Case of North Carolina. Working Paper 16

Using detailed administrative data for the public K-12 schools of North Carolina, we measure racial segregation in its public schools. With data for the 2005-2006 school year, we update previously published calculations that measure segregation by unevenness in racial enrollment patterns, both between schools and within schools. We find that classroom segregation generally increased between 2000-2001 and 2005-2006, continuing, albeit at a slightly slower rate, the trend of increases we observed over the preceding six years. Segregation increased sharply in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, which introduced a new choice plan in 2002. Over the same period, racial and economic disparities in teacher quality widened in that district. Finally, we compare our basic measure to two alternative measures of segregation. An appendix is included. (Contains 31 footnotes and 11 tables.)