Amsterdam
Desegregation, U.S.-style: Faced with unprecedented racial and ethnic divisions, education officials in Amsterdam have turned to the U.S. for advice on desegregating schools. “Segregation is a big issue here, and it is getting worse,” said education policymaker Petra Coffeng. Nearly a third of Amsterdam residents have non-Western backgrounds, and they are increasingly concentrated in minority neighborhoods. Officials are particularly keen on a pilot program, based on a model used in Boston, Seattle, and Little Rock, Ark., in which parents rank their top four school choices. Then classroom seats are distributed based on a combination of preference and demographic mix. But the very notion of mandated integration is foreign in the Netherlands, and policymakers are treading lightly. “We can not force it on people,” said Coffeng, “but I think it is going to happen.”
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