Diversity (Pittsburgh, Lebanon, Aliquippa: safe area, school districts, universities)

[beth ann]

I have been perusing Pgh area school sites, ad nauseum since we have been considering a move to Pgh.

One thing that stands out dramatically is the lack of racial and cultural diversity in schools. It was truly shocking to see that some schools may acutally have a school population of close to 1,000 , but only have a handful of Asian/ Middle Eastern/Indian/Hispanic students. Some schools even had less than 1% of students that were non-white.

Where I am currently, in No Va, we are a microcosm of the world, so to speak. Even here, in the suburbs (a good 18 miles outside Wash, DC) I have neighbors that are Chinese, Korean, Pakistani, and African. My kids go to school with kids from many differnt countries and cultures, which gives them a more global perspective. We're all in the same socio-economic status so to speak, so we have alot of values in common....school, family, etc.

I am concerned about this situation in PA Is there any diversity in Pgh, if so where? Is it only in the city, generated from Universites and Medical Centers where the international mix dissipates after they graduate or complete medical residencies?

My sister who lives in Akron, OH is amazed when she visits me. She didn't even know what ESOL was when we were referring to schools...but, Akron is a small town .....I know Pgh is a city.....I know it's not in the middle of small-town Iowa...so where exactly is the diversity?

Oh....and boylocke....don't try to quote stats on 2nd generation Irish/German/Polish/Italian folks and call it diversity, okay?....lol...I know how "crafty" you can be. I think every one knows what I mean here.

[Katiana]

I guess you would have to look at the individual school districts' websites. I don't know how to access them in Pennsylvania. There seem to be a lot of links to schools on this forum. You could try looking around and/or doing a search.

I was shocked to see that the high school my kids would go to if we lived where I grew up (Blackhawk) is 98% white. This is in Beaver County. When I was a kid, we all went to Beaver Falls High School which was at the time anyway, very diverse (at least re: black/white).

[RustbeltRocks]

I looked up the demographics from the last census and it seems that 27% of Pittsburgh is African American, 67% white, and 2.7% Asian, and 1.3% Hispanic. Now, I'll give you that the Asian and Hispanic are low (though that's growing all across the country, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's much higher than that, which I appreciate) but the other African American percentage is quite high, considering African Americans make up 10% of the total population of the country. I can see how this won't necessarily give your children a "global" perspective. Still, the city is not as you seem to describe, completely white. It's also worth noting, that Pittsburgh is very liberal (at least they seem to vote liberal, and their city council is all Dems, as is the Mayor)

I myself am of Syrian dissent and my Grandmother (who is 100% Syrian and first generation) lives in Pittsburgh, where there is a decently large community. Culture is quickly dissipated though. My Great-Grandparents moved from Syria to Pittsburgh, they never learned English, my Grandma speaks English and Syrian, my Mother only speaks English. I truly feel that unless you can get around recent immigrants or get your children around first or second generation children, it won't make a difference on their perspective.

[Katiana]

Find Public Schools - Public School Review

Here is a website to look up school districts. These are the data from Blackhawk High School in Beaver Falls. You can look up any SD you want on this site.

Definition of Terms Blackhawk High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 8 - 12
County Beaver County, PA

Students by Ethnicity This School ( PA ) School Average

% American Indian n/a n/a
% Asian 1% 2%
% Hispanic n/a 7%
% Black 1% 18%
% White 98% 71%

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by beth ann

I have been perusing Pgh area school sites, ad nauseum since we have been considering a move to Pgh.

One thing that stands out dramatically is the lack of racial and cultural diversity in schools. It was truly shocking to see that some schools may acutally have a school population of close to 1,000 , but only have a handful of Asian/ Middle Eastern/Indian/Hispanic students. Some schools even had less than 1% of students that were non-white.

Where I am currently, in No Va, we are a microcosm of the world, so to speak. Even here, in the suburbs (a good 18 miles outside Wash, DC) I have neighbors that are Chinese, Korean, Pakistani, and African. My kids go to school with kids from many differnt countries and cultures, which gives them a more global perspective. We're all in the same socio-economic status so to speak, so we have alot of values in common....school, family, etc.

I am concerned about this situation in PA Is there any diversity in Pgh, if so where? Is it only in the city, generated from Universites and Medical Centers where the international mix dissipates after they graduate or complete medical residencies?

My sister who lives in Akron, OH is amazed when she visits me. She didn't even know what ESOL was when we were referring to schools...but, Akron is a small town .....I know Pgh is a city.....I know it's not in the middle of small-town Iowa...so where exactly is the diversity?

Oh....and boylocke....don't try to quote stats on 2nd generation Irish/German/Polish/Italian folks and call it diversity, okay?....lol...I know how "crafty" you can be. I think every one knows what I mean here.

This is another thing I constantly hear about that I don't get. I grew up in Cranberry TWP. At the time I was there (1964-1984) it was amazingly lily white. The diversity was in the Polish/ Slovak/Hungarian/German/ Irish/Italian thing.

I was 12 before I met a Jew. We took my sister's Jewish friend home, where her family invited us in and sat us down to a spread the likes of which I will never forget. Lox. Mmmm...

But I grew up and moved to California, and into a racially diverse area.

What's the difference between the two areas? Lily white Cranberry and Racially Diverse Oakland?

Absolutely nothing.

Nada, Zip, Zilch. It's just people living their lives, doing their best and sharing stories over the fence.

It's my contention if you raise your children to accept people for who they are, they will accept all people for who they are. Racism is taught -- acceptance is taught also. It's not something your kids pick up from going to school with other cultures.

And I can say that while I didn't run into racism as a kid... I sure see it out here. It hasn't gone away, and I am so shocked when I hear out here that I am sometimes stunned into silence. Sometimes. And sometimes I will let people have it!

[Katiana]

My school experience in Beaver County was much different. At Beaver Falls High School, there were a lot of African-American students. I heard the "N" word many times.

I agree that racism is taught. Fortunately, my mom taight us another way. I remember when an elementary school was integrated in the south, and it was reported that white parents kept their kids home. I asked my mom what would happen if our elementary school (which was lily white, like Tallysmom's), and she said "You would go to school". May she rest in peace.

[beth ann]

I should have clarified regarding my school search.....

I am only considering the better/high performing/ strong academic schools in the Pgh area (I don't care if it's in the center of the city, north, south, east or west of the city)........

It is specifically amongst the better schools where I have been consistently finding it...well...pretty much "lilly white". There's no mistaking it.......it's a fact...I'm not trying to debate it...just trying to understand why.

I've checked out:
Mt Lebanon
USC
North Allegheny
Pine Richland
Peters
Franklin Reg
Moon
Quaker Valley

There's no question that the most of the better-performing schools are directly correlated with income levles. It does surprise me, though, that Pgh does not seem to have many professional minorites or many well-educated international folks.

Pgh seems to be very racially segregated...the black pop seems mostly to be in unsafe areas living around the poverty line.

The other racial groups and international groups just aren't represented in the better shcool districts, and that concerns me.

I did find one catholic elementary school in Shadyside, Sacred Heart, that has a mix of races and cultures while also having high academic standards. They told me they have a lot of influx of international students who are transient due to their parents' getting graduate and doctoral degrees w/ nearby universities.

I understand the point some of you folks are making about racisms and attitudes and family values, etc. I do, however think that a person's world view is broadened and enriched by interacting and being friends with people from other countries. It's also a more "realistic" view of the world.

I know I have been spoiled by living in the suburbs outside DC since we have The World Bank and Embassy jobs here, fed govt, plus many global companies....it's such a melting pot which I know I will surely miss if we move to Pgh.


Some have actually less than

[Katiana]

I agree, beth ann. My experience at BFHS was good for me. That's the "real world". I don't live in the Pgh area any more, so I don't really know what's happening there racially. I know that when I was a kid, over on the west side, which is Beaver County, Beaver Falls and Aliquippa had the most diverse high schools. Your concerns have been brought up before, and many people talk about self-segregation, etc. I really don't know if that's true. It seems that here in Colorado, the middle class minoriites live in the same neighborhoods as the middle class whites.

[montanamom]

If the situation is so great in Northern Virginia with all that great "diversity", why would you want to move to Pittsburgh?

[boardmanite]

The most diverse areas I've seen in the Pittsburgh region are within the city limits, in Oakland and Squirrel Hill. In Oakland, the diversity seems to be directly related to the proximity to Pitt and CMU. But Oakland isn't a place I'd want to raise a family--too many college kids! I've spent some time in Squirrel Hill and there is usually an interesting mix of faces in the business district. It's a quiet, beautiful neighborhood with lots of families. I believe some of Pittsburgh City's best public schools are in Squirrel Hill, but they probably still aren't the greatest. There are private schools in the area as well, but I don't know anything about them. You'd have to get info from someone else on here.