Dive Brief:

• A voluntary program aimed at increasing diversity in New York City schools will now expand, tasking public school principals with creating enrollment targets and reserving seats for 11 categories of learners, including homeless, disabled, low-income, ELL, underperforming and foster students.
• A pilot for the “Diversity in Admissions” initiative began in 2015, and its positive results led to the new citywide expansion of the initiative — though the number of schools who will participate in the program remains unclear.
• Enrollment targets are supposed to be set for the next school year beginning in fall 2017.

Dive Insight:

Will the program's expansion make a difference? Since schools opt in to the program, it's not yet clear just how much impact it might have. If the initiative was mandated and not voluntary, its chances of success might be improved. In February, seven of the city's public schools decided to set aside 20% of classroom seats to accommodate ELL and low-income students.

New York City has long struggled with issues of segregated schools, and has been held up as one of the most highly stratified school districts in the country. That hasn't changed over time. Impassioned parents and neighborhoods have argued for and against attempts to desegregate, with varying outcomes. 

Last June, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed "The School Diversity Accountability Act," requiring public schools to submit demographic and diversity statistics annually. Studies have tied school segregation to a rise in income inequality in the U.S.