Opportunity Mapping: Mapping the Geography of Opportunity to Support Fair Housing and Educational Equity
- 1. john a. powell, Jason Reece and Stephen Menendian The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity Prepared for the United States Department of Justice Housing and Civil Enforcement Section Washington, D.C. July 8, 2010
- 2. The Community of Opportunity Model for Fair Housing & Educational Equity
- 3. Today’s Discussion Opportunity Matters (john) ▪ The Community of Opportunity model for fair housing Methods and Implementation (Jason) ▪ Why and how do we map opportunity? ▪ What have opportunity maps been used for? Legal Applications (Stephen) ▪ Educational applications and potential use for liability and remedy
- 4. I was born… 4
- 5. I grew up… 5
- 6. My parents were sharecroppers in the South. They left the South in search of opportunity. 6
- 7. They moved north seeking opportunity and bought a house. Today I would say they bought into a low opportunity neighborhood. 7
- 8. The vacant grassy plots are not parks. 8
- 9. Vacant lots and abandoned houses 9
- 10. I grew up in a low opportunity structure in a declining opportunity city. 10
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- 13. LOW OPPORTUNITY HIGH OPPORTUNITY Only 1 in 4 students in Detroit The year my step daughter public schools finish high finished high school, 100% of school (based on analysis from the students graduated and Education Week in 2007) More the 60% of the men will 100% went to college spend time in jail Most will not even drive by a jail There may soon be no bus service in some areas Free bus service It is difficult to attract jobs or Relatively easy to attract capital private capital Very safe; great parks Not safe; very few parks Difficult to get fresh food Easy to get fresh food 13
- 14. “Opportunity” is a situation or condition that places individuals in a position to be more likely to succeed or excel. Opportunity structures are critical to opening pathways to success: High-quality education Healthy and safe environment Stable housing Sustainable employment Political empowerment Outlets for wealth-building Positive social networks
- 15. Racialized… Spatialized… Globalized… • In 1960, African- • marginalized people • Economic American families in of color and the very poverty were 3.8 times globalization poor have been more likely to be spatially isolated concentrated in high- from opportunity via • Climate change poverty neighborhoods reservations, Jim than poor whites. Crow, Appalachian mountains, ghettos, • the Credit and • In 2000, they were 7.3 barrios, and the Foreclosure crisis times more likely. culture of incarceration.
- 16. Physical Social Cultural Outcomes & Behaviors These structures interact in ways that produce racialized outcomes for different groups, but also in ways that influence racial identity
- 17. Some people ride the “Up” Others have to run up escalator to reach the “Down” escalator to opportunity get there 17
- 18. Five decades of research indicate that your environment has a profound impact on your access to opportunity and likelihood of success High poverty areas with poor employment, underperforming schools, distressed housing and public health/safety risks depress life outcomes A system of disadvantage Many manifestations ▪ Urban, rural, suburban People of color are far more likely to live in opportunity deprived neighborhoods and communities Social determinants of race: Where you live dictates access to opportunity structures and also determines racial norms 18
- 19. • One variable can explain why differential outcomes. …to a multi-dimensional understanding…. • Structural Inequality – Example: a Bird in a cage. Examining one bar cannot explain why a bird cannot fly. But multiple bars, arranged in specific ways, reinforce each other and trap the bird.
- 20. Source: Barbara Reskin. http://faculty.uwashington.edu/reskin/ 20
- 21. School Lower Educational Segregation Outcomes for Urban (Economic) School Districts Increased Flight Neighborhood of Affluent (Housing) Families from Segregation Urban Areas 21
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- 23. Everyone should have fair access to the critical opportunity structures needed to succeed in life. Low Opportunity neighborhoods limit the development of human capital A Community of Opportunity approach can develop pathways that result in increased social and economic health, benefiting everyone Looking at people, places and linkages ▪ Linkages = building connections to areas of opportunity ▪ Example: Opportunity based fair housing 23
- 24. Deliberate, coordinated, and regional investments in people, places, and linkages Two-pronged approach: ▪ Targeted in-place, urban revitalization strategies ▪ Mobility-based investments for marginalized residents to access high opportunity communities’ These are Not opposing strategies! A sustainable, transformative development strategy requires both
- 25. How do you map opportunity? What has it been used for?
- 26. Why are maps particularly effective in dealing with issues of equity? Regional, racial and social inequity often manifest as spatial inequity Maps are naturally the best tools to display this spatial phenomena Other disciplines and sectors are using multivariate mapping to problem solve Private industry Public sector ▪ NSP ▪ Recent interest in mapping by HUD for supporting sustainable communities ▪ See recent Urban Institute report 26
- 27. Mapping visually represents the cumulative effects of opportunity segregation Also a strong analytical tool to look at disparate impact (especially those impacts which are spatial and racial in nature) • One map may contain tens of thousands of pieces of information than can be understood in seconds A good map can enable you to tell a story or solve a problem • Research has shown that people can solve problems faster with map based information, than by looking at charts, tables or graphs
- 28. The Kirwan Institute has conducted “opportunity mapping” for states and metropolitan regions across the US Projects in at least a dozen states ▪ Full State Analysis: MA, CT, OH, FL ▪ Regions: Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Detroit, Austin, Sacramento, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, New Orleans Why identify the “State of Opportunity” How are low-income groups situated in the State? How are racial and ethnic groups situated? How does housing intersect with race, class and opportunity What can be done to improve the opportunity landscape?
- 29. How do you map opportunity? Data representing community conditions was gathered for neighborhood (census tracts) across the state or region ▪ Data for all indicators of community conditions was aggregated to the Census Tract level and analyzed to create a comprehensive opportunity index for the census tracts (neighborhoods) throughout the state or region The opportunity index is then mapped and census tracts are broken into quintiles based on their opportunity score ▪ Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High
- 30. EDUCATION HOUSING & NEIGHBORHOOD Student poverty rates HEALTH Reading/Math test scores Home ownership rates Adult educational attainment Crime incidence Teacher qualifications Vacancy rates Graduation rate Home value appreciation Neighborhood poverty rates ECONOMIC HEALTH Population change Proximity to parks/open space Proximity to employment Proximity to toxic waste release Commute times sites Job growth trends Business start trends All indicators grounded in social science research Unemployment rate literature, also indicators can be more narrowly Public assistance rate tailored to meet the needs of particular populations (e.g. public housing residents). 30
- 31. Education Economic Housing & Final Opportunity Opportunity Neighborhood Opportunity Score Score Score Score (Map) 31
- 32. Example of an Opportunity Map: Detroit MI (Dark Areas = Most Opportunity Rich Communities) (Light Areas = Most Opportunity Deprived Areas) 32
- 34. 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% % African American % Asian % Latino % Whites Low and Very Low Opp. Moderate Opportunity High and Very High Opp. 34
- 35. Background on this project Originated from effort to incorporate mapping analysis into legal services Partners Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, MA Legal Assistance Corp (foundation) and other Legal Services Entities Year long process of meeting with stakeholders to understand mapping needs and issues Training with service providers & agencies (using mapping for programming)
- 36. Three areas of opportunity were analyzed using GIS mapping capability: Education Quality and Opportunity Economic Health and Transportation Neighborhood Stability and Health
- 37. Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Greater Boston
- 41. Program design and use within legal services New programming – proposed “Adopt A Zip Code” program Use in exploring client concerns/challenges Internal use by funder (MLAC) State level program design (public sector) New $5 million state affordable housing program, targeted to high opportunity communities (see press release) Targeting of $21 million in NSP funds to low opportunity communities by the MA Department of Housing and Community Development Implementation still unfolding
- 43. Connecticut “The mapping is guiding our next round of fair housing testing…our mapping report has been identified by the CT Department of Economic and Community Development as one of the three central principles that will guide its planning over the next five years.” ▪ Erin Boggs, CT Fair Housing Center
- 44. Baltimore Remedial proposal in Thompson v. HUD Chicago (Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities) Use in advising voucher holders in neighborhood selection Austin Use in evaluating city’s affordable housing investments Related Project: Washington County, OR Advised on opportunity map created by the County included in recent consolidated plan for County ▪ Exploring application in planning activities for the broader Portland region Child Development Jacksonville, FL & the Duvall County children’s commission Education Montclair, NJ and Louisville, KY (more on this in Stephen’s comments) Coalition Work (PRRAC) National Coalition on School Diversity & Civil Rights Task Force on Federal Housing Policy
- 45. Education applications and potential use for liability and remedy
- 46. ► Since the racialized nature of opportunity isolation is a spatial phenomena, maps are naturally an effective way to represent it ► Maps allow us to understand volumes of data at a glance through layering ► Mapping is a very powerful tool in looking at educational inequity & opportunity 46
- 47. ► School Composition layered over census tract data in Montclair, NJ ► Maps illustrate how residential segregation can manifests in schools 47
- 48. ► Magnet school policy counteracts effects of neighborhood segregation 48
- 49. ► Educational outcomes are a product of many inputs. ► Using social science research, we can identify factors that correlate with educational performance. ► Mapping looks at multiple factors which correlate with educational outcomes and social benefits, in a given neighborhood. 49
- 50. Direct Education Indicators School poverty rate Average teaching experience Percent reading proficiency - 11th grade Percent writing proficiency - 11th grade Percent math proficiency - 11th grade Graduation rate 2004-2005 Percent of teachers with Bachelor's degree Percent of teachers with Master's degree Total hardware/software (computer expenditure) Access to libraries Percent associates degree or higher Other Neighborhood Indicators Percent poverty Percent unemployed Access to prenatal care Total crime indicator Percent of houses owner-occupied Percent of houses vacant Housing median value Child poverty rate Median household income
- 51. SOUTHWEST OHIO SOUTHWEST CENTRAL OHIO
- 52. ► Mapping the geographic distribution of opportunity helps us to evaluate where these opportunity mismatches exist in a community and to design interventions to move people to opportunity ► Student assignment policies can be created using these indicators, drawing attendance Zones, boundaries, or through controlled choice plans. 52
- 53. District Indicators Steps Notes Jefferson 1) Median HH Income 1) Parental Choice Two-Zone model 2) Racial Composition of County/Louisville Neighborhood within Resides Zone , KY 3) Ed. Attain of Parents Berkeley , CAL 1) Average Nbhd Income 1) Sibling Controlled Choice, 3 2) Ed. Attain of Adults in 2) Parental Choice within Attendance Zones; Nbhd Zone assignment Upheld by Cal. Ct. of 3) Racial Composition of Nbhd Appeals Montclair, NJ 1) Median HH income 1) Special needs Magnets Plan, 2) HH Poverty Rates 2) ESL Freedom-of-Choice, 3) # of F/R Lunch Stds 3) Siblings 4) Ed. Attain of Adults in 4) Parental Choice within 3-Zones, K students Nbhd Zone Assignment only 5) Racial Composition of Nbhd Chicago, IL 1) Median family income 1) Siblings 4 Census Block 2) Adult Ed. Attainment 2) ½ of remaining seats 3) % of Single-Parent HH proximity lottery Zones 4) % of Owner-Occupied 3) Remaining Seats by Homes SES census block 5) % Of ESL students zone
- 54. Source: Civil Rights Project at UCLA
- 55. Source: Civil Rights Project at UCLA
- 56. “We conclude that the particular policies challenged here – which aims to achieve social diversity by using neighborhood demographics when assigning students to schools – is not discriminatory. The challenged policy does not use racial classifications; in fact, it does not consider an individual student’s race at all when assigning the student to a school.” - ACRF v. Berkeley Unified School Districts
- 57. ► GOAL: Each school has diversity of students from each zone, within 5% point deviation of K class zone baseline. ► K and transfer students are assigned based on parental preference and zone balance.
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- 61. Notes on Parents Involved 61
- 62. Justice Kennedy’s opinion is controlling as the fifth vote. 62
- 63. J. Kennedy, Concurring That the school districts consider these plans to be necessary should remind us that our highest aspirations are yet unfulfilled. School districts can seek to reach Brown’s objective of equal educational opportunity. But the solutions mandated by these school districts must themselves be lawful. In my view, the state-mandated racial classifications at issue, official labels proclaiming the race of all persons in a broad class of citizens – elementary school students in one case, high school students in another – are unconstitutional as the cases now come to us.
- 64. “If school authorities are concerned that the student- body compositions of certain schools interfere with the objective of offering an equal educational opportunity to all of their students, they are free to devise race- conscious measures to address the problem in a general way without treating each student in a different fashion soley on the basis of systematic, individual typing by race. School boards may pursue the goal of bringing together students of diverse backgrounds and races through other means, including strategic site selection of new schools; drawing attendance zones with general recognition of the demographics of the neighborhoods; allocating resources for special programs; recruiting students and faculty in a targeted fashion; and tracking enrollments, performance, and other statistics by race. These mechanisms are race-conscious but do not lead to different treatment based on a classifications that tells each student he or she is to be defined by race. 64
- 65. ►After decades of integration efforts and hard won gains, many districts concerned that the reversion to neighborhood schools and local control would result in rapid resegregation implemented voluntary integration plans. ►This refers to integration efforts and strategies that a school system might employ, absent a legal obligation to do so.
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