The Nashville Banner reports on a change in the way pre-K classrooms are structured in Nashville, using the case of Inglewood Elementary.
At a school like Inglewood, with a high enrollment of Black, white and Latino students and kids from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, separating the pre-K students by income had the unintended result of separating them by race.
Inglewood Elementary’s PTA spent the past school year rallying to urge Metro Nashville Public Schools to change its funding policy for pre-K classrooms. With the support of Inglewood teachers and administration, parents raised concerns that separating students by income — and sometimes, as a result, race — is inequitable and violates decades of research on the educational benefits of diverse early learning environments.
After a series of letters and meetings with district representatives and school board members, the district agreed. Pre-K students of all income levels will learn side-by-side starting next school year — not just at Inglewood but at all MNPS preschools with this funding structure.
