Doet onderwijssegratie ertoe?

For a number of years in the Netherlands different strategies have been tried at both the national and local level to tackle educational segregation. In this article we argue that this is a difficult goal to achieve when one recognizes the ways in which the exercise of individual liberty typically conflicts with the social goals of equality. Accordingly we argue that social integration through efforts to mix schools may not always be the best way to realize those goals. We begin by arguing that it is first of all important to differentiate between voluntary and involuntary educational segregation. Further, as an alternative to the mixed school ideal we then explore the possibilities for voluntary separation.