Prof: Malverne Schools Should Integrate With Neighboring Districts [Poll]

The tumultuos history of race relations in the Malverne school district was the subject of a blog posted this week by Hofstra professor Alan Singer on the Huffington Post, in which he calls for the district to consolidate with neighboring ones.

Singer described a lecture he delivered last month at the Lakeview Public Library - sponsored by the Save Our Sons Network - titled "The State of School Integration on Long Island."

Calling himself a "white man and parent committed to racially integrating public schools," Singer writes about the tumultuous history of race relations in the Malverne school district, citing the differences in the demographics of Malverne and Lakeview, and the battles over school integration that took place in the 1960s.

Fast-forwarding to today, Singer says that segregation still exists in Malverne's schools, as "over 75 percent of the students...are black and Latino," despite Malverne's large white population because "many white families send their children to local religious schools or to public schools in surrounding communities." He writes that a "stigma of inferiority" is being placed on these minority students because they are being excluded.

He argues that "in an era when school reform and budget savings are championed by representatives of both major political parties, Long Island cannot economically, politically, or culturally afford to maintain small racially segregated school districts" like Malverne. He proposes that the Malverne school district merge neighboring districts in Rockville Centre, West Hempstead, Lynbrook, and East Rockaway to create a "manageable district with under 11,000 students," where the population would be 69 percent white, 14 percent black, 13 percent Hispanic, and 4 percent Asian," which would better reflect the demographics and the diversity of the area.

What do you think of Singer's statements? Do you agree that Malverne should consolidate with neighboring districts? Tell us your thoughts in the space below and vote in our poll.