Desegregation plan for Upper W. Side schools

After months of contentious debate, city schools chancellor Richard Carranza on Wednesday revealed a plan to desegregate Upper West Side middle schools.

Starting next year, the city will set aside 25% of seats at middle schools in Manhattan’s District 3 — which stretches from Columbus Circle to Harlem — for kids from underprivileged families who have low state test scores and grades.

During the 2017 school year, the district as a whole was 32.4% white, 32.3% Hispanic, 21.5% black and 8.3% Asian, but many of the schools are almost entirely minority or white, according to the city Education Department.

This is the latest initiative the city has tried to desegregate the public schools, which are among the most racially diverse in the nation.

City schools chancellor Richard Carranza said he hopes the plan will serve as a model for other communities. “Students benefit from integrated schools,” he said. “I applaud the District 3 community on taking this step to integrate their middle schools.”