In Seattle, school segregation is actually getting worse

It's been 40 years since Seattle schools first tried — and failed — to integrate. Today, data suggest segregation persists across the district.

Jen Dev

Jen Dev Jun 14, 2025

Mar 28, 2019

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          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>In Seattle, school segregation is actually getting worse</h1>
                <h2><p>It's been 40 years since Seattle schools first tried — and failed — to integrate. Today, data suggest segregation persists across the district.</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/jen-dev/">Jen Dev </a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Mar 28, 2019</time></p>
            </header>
            <figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100%" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/dsqcXO4NO8SG8pYdVixQJg==/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;endscreen=true" width="100%"></iframe></figure><p>Seattle public schools are becoming more divided when it comes to race. For years, the city made an effort to integrate schools with a busing program, to mixed success. But while residential desegregation continues to progress in Seattle, schools have been resegregating over the past few decades. Because of this, a school’s student body can look very different depending on what neighborhood it is in.</p>
          </article>

Seattle public schools are becoming more divided when it comes to race. For years, the city made an effort to integrate schools with a busing program, to mixed success. But while residential desegregation continues to progress in Seattle, schools have been resegregating over the past few decades. Because of this, a school’s student body can look very different depending on what neighborhood it is in.

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By Jen Dev

Jen Dev is formerly a video producer at Crosscut and KCTS 9, where she focused on race and immigration issues. Before Crosscut, she worked as a multimedia producer for nonprofits, news organizations a