James Chen writes: Rising test scores and higher academic standards in public schools are usually a cause for celebration among parents of school—age children. But in the liberal suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area, this development is triggering panic among white parents who are increasingly choosing to send their children to private schools, or moving to more exclusive neighborhoods.
Despite living in safe and desirable areas where diversity and tolerance are preached as gospel, white parents in the Bay Area are apparently avoiding many high—performing public school systems for the simple reason that they have too many Asians. The slow but steady disappearance of white students from suburban public schools is an obvious but rarely—discussed demographic trend that recalls the ‘white flight’ from America’s largest cities decades earlier.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article (link), reporter Suein Hwang delves into the racially—charged world of high school academics in Northern California. Hwang’s “The New White Flight” is as interesting as it is disturbing:
“By most measures, Monta Vista High here and Lynbrook High, in nearby San Jose, are among the nation’s top public high schools. Both boast stellar test scores, an array of advanced—placement classes and a track record of sending graduates from the affluent suburbs of Silicon Valley to prestigious colleges.
But locally, they’re also known for something else: white flight. Over the past 10 years, the proportion of white students at Lynbrook has fallen by nearly half, to 25% of the student body. At Monta Vista, white students make up less than one—third of the population, down from 45% —— this in a town that’s half white. Some white Cupertino parents are instead sending their children to private schools or moving them to other, whiter public schools. More commonly, young white families in Silicon Valley say they are avoiding Cupertino altogether.
Whites aren’t quitting the schools because the schools are failing academically. Quite the contrary: Many white parents say they’re leaving because the schools are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests.
The two schools, put another way that parents rarely articulate so bluntly, are too Asian.”
I’ve witnessed this phenomenon first—hand during recent house hunting searches in Alameda and San Mateo Counties. As the parent of two young children, I often check data on neighborhood schools for comparative purposes. Primarily, this means reviewing a school district’s SARC (School Accountability Report Card), the state—mandated public report containing vital information on student achievement and demographics.
