A Quantitative Analysis of the Increase in Public School Segregation in Delaware

This study analyzes the increase in school segregation in Delaware from a quantitative perspective. The article tests the hypothesis that the declaration of unitary status that released the Wilmington area school districts from their desegregation order caused the increase in segregation. The research reveals that the declaration of unitary status contributed to an increase in segregation in the Wilmington area. However, the primary factor in the statewide increase in school segregation was the flight of White students from the Wilmington area schools, a result that might be expected from the imposition of a desegregation order but not from its termination.