69´«Ã½

Once overwhelmingly white, the Chandler (Ariz.) Unified School District in suburban Phoenix was 50.1 percent nonwhite at the start of the 2020-21 school year. The dramatic demographic shifts have sparked tensions over diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Equity & Diversity Collection

The Changing Face of Suburban 69´«Ã½: A Collection

America’s suburban public schools were often built as havens for middle-class white families. Now, though, white enrollment is plummeting, and the nonwhite families who make up suburbia’s new K-12 majority are pushing back on school systems that were supposed to be “good†but often fail to deliver safe learning environments and equal access to opportunity for children of color. The resulting tensions are reshaping everything from school boards to discipline policies to class reading lists. This collection examines both the numbers and the stories behind a trend that will have a major long-term impact on the future of public schools.

Despite a rapid explosion of suburban developments over the last 20 years, beef, grain and produce farms continue to operate near many schools in Chandler, Ariz., as seen on March 3, 2021.
Despite a rapid explosion of suburban developments over the last 20 years, beef, grain and produce farms continue to operate near many schools in Chandler, Ariz., as seen on March 3, 2021.
Ash Ponders for Education Week
Despite a rapid explosion of suburban developments over the last 20 years, beef, grain and produce farms continue to operate near many schools in Chandler, Ariz., as seen on March 3, 2021.
Despite a rapid explosion of suburban developments over the last 20 years, beef, grain and produce farms continue to operate near many schools in Chandler, Ariz., as seen on March 3, 2021.
Ash Ponders for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Data The 'Dramatic' Demographic Shifts Reshaping Suburban 69´«Ã½: 7 Key Data Points to Know
Xinchun Chen, Yukiko Furuya, Alex Harwin & Benjamin Herold, March 17, 2021
3 min read
Image shows white woman's hand moving Black figures around.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Equity & Diversity Opinion Whose Vision Will Guide Racial Equity in 69´«Ã½?
Sonya Douglass Horsford, March 17, 2021
5 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Jeffrey Smith for Education Week
Dr. Adama Sallu stands for a portrait at Conley Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, in Chandler, Ariz..

Additional 69´«Ã½

Image of a suburb.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety School Reopening Plans and the Suburban Challenge
Stephen Sawchuk, October 30, 2020
3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
iStock/Getty
Hate In 69´«Ã½ Cover
Vanessa Solis/Education Week
School Climate & Safety Project Hate in 69´«Ã½
Francisco Vara-Orta, August 6, 2018
27 min read