Economic imbalances among North Carolina’s public schools have grown since the 1990s, even as racial school segregation flattened, finds a study by Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
Since the 1994-95 school year, economic imbalances have increased in schools in each of the five largest counties in the state, the study released this month found. Furthermore, based on an analysis of teacher credentials, the study found that the more students in a school who received free and reduced-price meals (a proxy for low income), the more likely it was that the teachers at that school would have weaker credentials.
Though researchers found less racial segregation in the past six years, the report states that the higher the proportion of nonwhite students at a school, the more likely it was that teachers at that school would have weaker credentials. Such credentials included the years of teaching experience, certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the share of teachers with “nonregular” teaching licenses.
