POLICY STEPS Key Takeaways As each of these maps illustrates in some way, the metro-Richmond area has become more diverse yet remains divided along the lines of race, income, ethnicity, language, and poverty. Through these visualizations in the LL2 report, we can see the intertwined and pervasive nature of housing and school segregation. What we can’t see–but must emphasize–is how segregation perpetuates and reinforces itself by creating the conditions of more and less opportunity that then can influence those with opportunity to separate further from those with less. With this pernicious cycle in mind, the LL2 report offers both policy solutions that seek to shift the status quo by addressing the fundamental barriers to opportunity and providing policy recommendations designed to meet the current needs of those experiencing the inequitable opportunities that segregation causes. The goal of the policy section of the LL2 report is to imagine how policy makers, non-profits, and advocacy groups can break down and remove barriers but also provide opportunities and resources to assist in addressing housing and education segregation. The LL2 report has outlined how segregation is an outcome, but also it is a cycle that is a result of pernicious policies at the local, state, and federal level that need to be either changed or overturned. This section starts by analyzing the policy developments that have been achieved since the publication of the first Learn and Live report in 2017. The report then provides separate policy recommendations for housing and for education. It continues by offering public policy solutions that address the housing and education segregation - how to overcome or remove persistent barriers, while providing resources to assist children and caregivers move to opportunity. We conclude with examining housing and education public policies together - something that is rarely
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done. With each recommendation, there is a designation of the level of government and set of policy actors that are best equipped to address the recommendation: State, Localities or School Divisions in Education sections.
Policy Progress Since the first Learn and Live report was released, there have been some promising results in both the education and housing sectors, including: Education • Coordinated advocacy to reduce racial disparities in out-of-school suspensions statewide helped ensure the passage of a state law that restricts the suspensions of students in preschool through third grade to three days or less for cases of “physical harm or credible threat of physical harm to others,” “aggravating circumstances,” or those “involving firearms, destructive devices, or drugs.”71 • CodeRVA High School, in operation since 2017, offers a regional magnet approach for students from fifteen localities–including the eight featured in this report. The school features a lottery-based admissions process that addresses the inequities of the current science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) sector, and it provides services, including transportation, that ensures access to students from diverse communities and backgrounds.
Can We Learn and Live Together? 2.0