New Report Examines Effects of Exclusionary Zoning on Educational Opportunities in New York City

A new report by the Century Foundation examines the impacts of exclusionary zoning on educational opportunities in New York City by examining two communities in Queens: Bayside/Little Neck and Jamaica/Hollis. The first in a series of studies undertaken in partnership with New York University’s Furman Center, the report examines current discussions about housing reform in NYC, the housing policies shaping the two Queens communities, the intersections of restrictive zoning and access to high-performing schools, the impacts of political obstacles on policy solutions, and strategies for the future. “For most people, where you live determines which public schools your children are allowed to attend,” writes Richard Kahlenberg, a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, in an article about the report. “Because the vast majority of students in America attend neighborhood public schools, housing policy is also school policy. Exclusionary housing policies that keep many families out of high-performing public school districts thwart opportunity for low-income and working-class students, many of them students of color.” Read Kahlenberg’s article about the report here.