There is little debate that New Jersey is among the most segregated states in the US, with national reports ranking racial and ethnic segregation in our schools as similar to states of the deep south like Alabama and Mississippi. However, in nearly a decade of FDU Poll surveys about segregation in New Jersey, it has become clear that most residents simply don’t see a problem. It isn’t that voters accept racism or segregation; they just don’t think it’s happening here. This undercuts any attempt to remediate school segregation, as the public is unlikely to support solutions if they don’t think there’s a problem in the first place.

In this special study, the FDU Poll used a survey experiment to see whether changing the context of how people look at school segregation would change how they saw their own areas. The results show that at least some voters are open to changing their minds, and become more amenable to potential solutions, but there’s still a long way to go.

Perceptions of Segregation in New Jersey

While many voters live in highly segregated areas, they don’t perceive their municipalities as being segregated. In a first, the FDU Poll linked how voters talk about segregation in their municipalities with hard data on the racial and ethnic composition of the area. The data shows a dramatic disconnect between what people say about their towns, and what’s actually happening.

On the whole, white voters tend to live in relatively segregated areas, while Black and Hispanic voters tend to live in relatively diverse areas. The median white voter in New Jersey lives in a municipality that is 62 percent white and 11 percent Black; the median Black voter lives in a municipality that is 31 percent white and 34 percent Black. The median Hispanic voter lives in a municipality that is 39 percent white, 17 percent Black and 33 percent Hispanic. But these median figures hide the extent to which a large portion of white voters live in heavily segregated areas. For instance, a little less than 40 percent of white voters live in municipalities that are 3 percent or less Black, and about 10 percent of white voters live in areas that are 1 percent or less Black.

“The story of New Jersey is a story of racially and ethnically diverse cities and neighborhoods co-existing alongside white enclaves,” said Dan Cassino, the Executive Director of the FDU Poll, and a Professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson. “But even in the whitest areas, people know that segregation is bad, so they don’t want to recognize how bad the problem is.”

Among those voters living in municipalities that are 90 percent or more white (about 10 percent of voters), only nine percent say that their schools are segregated by race, with 73 percent saying that there’s “a good mix.” In those same towns, only 46 percent of voters say that the students in their schools are “mostly white,” with another 46 percent saying that there’s “a variety of races.” Put another way, about 10 percent of voters in New Jersey live in municipalities that are 1 percent Black, or less. Only 11 percent of voters living in those areas say that their schools are segregated; 68 percent say that there’s “a good mix” in the schools.

Importantly, these judgments about how segregated areas are have little to do with actual levels of racial segregation. In towns that are majority minority, 6 percent of voters say that their schools are segregated, and 81 percent say that there’s a good mix. In towns that are 90 percent white, the percent saying that the schools are segregated increases insignificantly to 9 percent, while the percent saying that they’re “a good mix” drops by just 8 points, from 81 percent to 73 percent.

“What people say about segregation is less about what people are seeing around them, and more about what they would like to believe,” said Peter Woolley, the Director Emeritus of the FDU Poll, and a Professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson. “If they admitted there was segregation, they might have to do something about it, so it’s easier to pretend it isn’t happening.”

Potential Policy Responses

The poll also asked about several policies that might be used to reduce the level of school segregation in the state. Two of these policies (enabling easier transfers between school districts and building regional magnet schools) would have relatively less impact on existing school populations and integrate schools voluntarily. Two of them (inter-district busing and forced school district mergers) would have potentially dramatic effects on existing schools and have been controversial when used to integrate schools in the past.

As might be expected, the less disruptive measures were more popular among voters. Seventy-two percent of voters say that they support easier inter-district transfers, and 56 percent say that they would support the building of regional magnet schools. Only 44 percent say that they support mergers of school districts, and just 41 percent say that they would support inter-district busing arrangements. Support for all of the measures is much higher among Black and Hispanic voters than among white voters. For instance, only 36 percent of white voters say that they would support forced district mergers, compared to 70 percent of Black voters; 66 percent of white voters support easier inter-district transfers, compared to 87 percent of Hispanic voters. Democrats are also much more likely to support these measures than Republicans.

“We can fix school segregation, and it isn’t like we don’t know what can be done” said Woolley. “But we can’t do anything to fix it unless people can agree that there’s something that needs to be fixed.”

Views of Racism

One reason why voters may not recognize racial segregation in the state as such is that, unlike in some parts of the country, segregation in New Jersey is driven mostly by economic inequality, rather than as a legacy of legally mandated segregation (though red-lining, a process in which Black neighborhoods were marked off-limits to most mortgages and investments, was present in New Jersey). This might well lead to disagreement about whether segregation that arises without any racist intent can truly be considered segregation.

“People recognize that school segregation is a racist outcome, so if you believe that racist outcomes can only arise from racist intent, you might decide that what’s happening in New Jersey schools can’t actually be segregation,” said Cassino.

However, most voters in New Jersey, including most white voters, believe that racism can be systemic, happening without anyone having racist intent. Fifty-two percent of voters say that racism can happen on a systemic level, with just 39 percent saying that something can only be racist if it is driven by racist intent. Surprisingly, there is no significant difference in beliefs about this based on race or ethnicity, though Democrats (69 percent) are much more likely than Republicans (35 percent) to say that racist outcomes can arise without any racist intent.

“Basically every argument about racism in America comes down to the question of whether racism requires intent,” said Woolley. “This is the fault line of racial politics in America.”

The fact that voters in New Jersey believe that racist outcomes can occur in the absence of any racist intent means that they may be open to seeing segregation in their schools, if the issue is put into that context.

Re-Contextualizing School Segregation

To test whether changing the context matters, respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the first, the control condition, respondents were asked about some non-partisan issues (like whether New Jersey should allow self-serve gas stations) before being asked about segregation. In the second, respondents were asked about their views on racism before being asked about segregation. In the third, respondents answered questions about their political views before being asked about segregation. While all respondents answered the same questions, the order in which they were asked could serve to change the context in which respondents answer subsequent questions.

For most voters, the experimental condition had very little effect on how respondents viewed their areas, or on what remedies, if any, they would endorse to try and ameliorate school segregation in the state. But it had substantial effects on those facing a gap between their views of racism and the racial composition of the towns they live in.

Among white voters living in the towns with the highest proportion of non-Hispanic white respondents (80 percent or more, the top quarter of municipalities in percent white) who say that racism can be systemic, asking about general views of racism leads them to be more likely to recognize segregation in their schools, and support policies to ameliorate the segregation.

In the control condition, just 6 percent of white voters living in very white municipalities who believe that racism can be systemic say that their schools are segregated. In the experimental condition, when they are were asked about their views of racism beforehand, that number shoots up to 17 percent. Among white respondents in the same towns who say that racist outcomes require racist intent, there’s no significant increase.

“People are able to recognize the disconnect between their own principles and what they’re seeing around them,” said Cassino. “The problem is that they’re just not being asked to do so.”

While substantial, these effects are limited. Expanding the sample to white voters in municipalities in the top half of percent white (rather than the top quarter) largely eliminates the effect. Just so, there seems to be a larger effect in the smaller sample of voters living in the most segregated communities (90 percent or more white). The partisan priming condition had no consistent effect on attitudes, either overall, nor in very white municipalities, nor among Democrats living in those municipalities.

Among respondents who believe that racism can be systemic, and live in very white municipalities, the racial priming condition also leads to significant upticks in support for many of the measures that might help ameliorate school segregation. Among this group, there are increases in support for regional magnet schools (from 53 to 72 percent), inter-district transfers (from 58 to 74 percent) and inter-district busing (from 31 to 43 percent). The priming condition does not, however, increase support for district mergers.

“In the long term, merging districts is probably the best way to reduce school segregation,” said Cassino. “But it seems like no degree of pointing out ideological inconsistencies is going to get New Jersey voters to agree to that.”

 

Methodology

The FDU Poll is a proud member of the AAPOR Transparency Initiative and is devoted to ensuring that our results are presented in such a way that anyone can quickly and easily get all of the information that they may need to evaluate the validity of our surveys. We believe that transparency is the key to building trust in the work of high-quality public opinion research, and necessary to push our industry forward.

The survey was conducted between June 23 and 30, 2026, using a voter list of registered voters in New Jersey carried out by Braun Research of Princeton, New Jersey. Respondents were contacted via text-to-web (TTW) surveys sent to cellular phones, resulting in an overall sample of 1,211 registered voters in the state. Surveys were conducted only in English.

The data for these questions was gathered as part of a survey experiment focusing on views of segregation in New Jersey. In survey experiments, the focus is on establishing internal validity (causality), rather than external validity (valid representation of the population as a whole). As such, TTW sampling, rather than our normal methodology was used. This means that larger than usual weights had to be applied to the data, increasing the credibility margins attached to the figures. While the overall size of the weights applied was not dramatically larger than those used in our normal survey procedure, TTW sampling necessarily reaches a different sample than phone-based sampling, and some caution should be used when evaluating the population estimates given.

Estimates of the racial composition of the municipality where the respondent lives were created by linking the zip code on the voter file with 2020 US Census data, as updated by the CPS. Respondents living in unincorporated Census Designated Places (CDP) were assigned to the governing municipality. For instance, “Upper Montclair” is a CDP, but not an incorporated municipality. As such, respondents living in Upper Montclair were grouped in with Montclair for the purposes of determining racial composition. This grouping necessarily leads to error, as, going back to the example, the racial composition of Upper Montclair is likely different from that of Montclair generally, but there is no reason to believe that it leads to systematic bias in the results, especially given the relatively small proportion of the New Jersey population living in such areas.

The data were weighted to be representative of the population of registered voters in New Jersey. The weights used, like all weights, balance the demographic characteristics of the sample to match known population parameters. The weighted results used here are balanced to match parameters for sex, age, education, region and race/ethnicity.

SPSSINC RAKE, an SPSS extension module that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables using the GENLOG procedure, was used to produce final weights. Weights were trimmed to prevent individual interviews from having too much influence on the final results. The use of these weights in statistical analysis helps to ensure that the demographic characteristics of the sample approximate the demographic characteristics of the target population. The size of these weights is used to construct the measure of design effects, which indicate the extent to which the reported results are being driven by the weights applied to the data, rather than found in the data itself. Simply put, these design effects tell us how many additional respondents would have been needed to get the weighted number of respondents across weighted categories: larger design effects indicate greater levels of under-representation in the data. In this case, calculated design effects are approximately 1.4, largely driven by the weights used on the race/ethnicity and age variables.

All surveys are subject to sampling error, which is the expected probable difference between interviewing everyone in a population versus a scientific sampling drawn from that population. Sampling error should be adjusted to recognize the effect of weighting the data to better match the population. In this poll, the simple sampling error for 1,211 registered voters is +/-3.0 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence interval. Including the design effects, the margin of error would be +/-4.2 percentage points, though the figure not including them is much more commonly reported.

This error calculation does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording, differences in translated forms, or context effects. While such errors are known to exist, they are often unquantifiable within a particular survey, and all efforts, such as randomization and extensive pre-testing of items, have been used to minimize them.

 

 

Weighted Telephone Sample Characteristics

1,211 Registered Voters in New Jersey

Figures do not include individuals who declined to answer demographic items.

 

Man

49%                 N = 578
Woman

50%                 N = 598
Some Other Way

1%                  N = 14

 

18-30

14%                N = 172
31-44

22%                 N = 264
45-64

33%                 N = 393
65+

30%                 N = 362

 

White

68%                N = 804
Black

11%                N = 131
Hispanic/Latino/a

13%                N = 154
Asian

4%                  N = 47
Other/Multi-racial

3%                  N = 39

 

No college degree

57%                N = 678
College degree or more

43%                N = 516

 

Democrat (including leaners)

44%                N = 488
Independent (no lean)

19%                N = 212
Republican (including leaners)

37%                N = 413

 

 

Question Wording and Order

Respondents are randomly assigned to one of three orders.

Group One (experimental): Discrimination, Segregation, Filler Items, Partisanship, Demos 

Group Two (control): Filler Items, Segregation, Discrimination, Partisanship, Demos

Group Three (partisan effects): Partisanship, Segregation, Filler Items, Discrimination, Demos

 

Segment One: Partisanship

Groups One and Two: Next, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your general political views.

Group Three: First off, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your general political views.

D1. In politics today, do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or something else?

1. Democrat
2. Republican
3. Independent  [ASK D1A]
4. Something Else/Other
5. DK/Ref

 

D1A. [Ask only if D1 is 3] Which way do you lean?

1. Democrat
2. Republican
3. Independent
4. Something Else/Other
5. DK/Ref

 

D1B. In addition, which of the following terms would you use to describe your political views? You can choose as many as you like. [Shuffle Order]

1. Liberal
2. Moderate
3. Conservative
4. Socialist
5. Progressive
6. Libertarian
7. Make America Great Again or MAGA
8. Nationalist

Segment Two: Views on Discrimination

Group One: First, we’d like to ask about your general views on what makes something racist. 

Groups Two and Three: Next, we’d like to ask about your general views on what makes something racist. 

R1. People frequently make claims of racism, but there’s disagreement about what that means. [Randomize order of arguments] Some people think that something can’t be racist unless someone has decided to do a racist thing, like refusing to hire someone because of their skin color. Other people think that racism can be the product of a system, so racism can happen even if no one decided to do something racist. Which comes closest to what you think? Can something only be racist if someone decided to do something racist, or can racist outcomes happen even if no one has racist intent?

1. Racism requires racist intent
2. Racism can happen without racist intent
3. Not Sure

Segment Three: Views of Local Segregation

Next, we’d like to ask you a few questions about the town where you live now.

R1. Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?

1. Mostly white
2. Mostly black
3. Mostly another race
4. Variety of races
5. DK [VOL]
6. Refused [VOL]

R2. Now let’s talk about your local school district. In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?

1. Segregated
2. A good mix
3. DK [VOL]
4. Refused [VOL]

R3. There have been a number of proposals to try and increase the racial diversity of schools in New Jersey. Which, if any, would you support in your area? You can say “yes” to as many or as few as you like.

[Shuffle order of response options; each is just a yes or no response]

1. Force school districts to merge, creating larger, more racially diverse districts
2. Make it easy for students to transfer between school districts
3. Build regional magnet schools that would take students from a whole county
4. Bus students between school districts to create more racially integrated schools

Segment Four: Filler Items

Groups One and Three: Next, we’d like to ask you a few questions about some proposed laws here in New Jersey.

Group Two: To start with, we’d like to ask you a few questions about some proposed laws here in New Jersey.

NJ1. In New Jersey, as you know, you can’t pump your own gas, the gas station must pump it for you. Do you support or oppose this rule?

1. Support current rule
2. Oppose current rule
3. DK [VOL]
4. Refused [VOL]

NJ2. The state legislature has proposed that pet owners should get tax credits to help offset the cost of keeping a cat or a dog. Pet owners could get up to $300 for everyday expenses, and up to $600 for veterinary costs. Supporters say that pet ownership is expensive, and owners deserve a break. Opponents say that there are better ways for the state to spend money. What do you think? Should the state provide tax credits for pet owners, or not?

1. Provide tax credits for pet owners
2. Don’t provide tax credits for pet owners
3. DK [VOL]
4. Refused [VOL]

NJ3. A bill in the state legislature would allow movie theaters to sell alcohol. Movie theater owners say it will help them stay in business. Some people are opposed, saying that it would hurt local restaurants and bars that paid a lot of money for liquor licenses. What do you think?

1. Movie Theaters should be able to sell alcohol
2. Keep current restrictions in place
3. DK [VOL]
4. Refused [VOL]

Segment Five: Demos

Finally, we have just a few more questions, for statistical purposes

D2. To ensure we are reaching people of all ages, would you please tell me your age?

1. Under 30
2. 31 to 44
3. 45 to 64
4. 65 or over
5. [Refused]

D3. What was the last grade in school you completed? [CODE TO LIST]

1. Did not complete High School
2. High School Diploma or equivalent
3. Vocational or Trade School
4. Some college, but no degree
5. Associates, or other 2 year degree
6. Bachelor’s Degree
7. Graduate work, such as Law, MBA, Medical School, or similar
8. Refused (VOL)

D6. How would you describe your sex? Do you describe yourself as ...

1. A Man
2. A Woman
3. Some other way
4. [DK/REF]

D7. How would you describe your racial and ethnic background? You can pick as many as you’d like.

1. White
2. Black
3. Asian
4. Hispanic/Latino/a/Spanish
5. Other or Multi-Racial
6. [Dk/Ref]

 

 

 

Release Tables

 

Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?
	Overall	Less than 50% White	80%+ White	90%+ White
Mostly White	31%	15%	54%	46%
Mostly Black	8%	15%	3%	4%
Mostly Another Race	4%	6%	1%	1%
Variety of Races	52%	60%	39%	46%
Don't Know/ Refused	5%	4%	3%	2%

 

In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?
	Overall	Less than 50% White	80%+ White	90%+ White
Segregated	9%	6%	10%	9%
A Good Mix	75%	81%	69%	73%
Don't Know/ Refused	16%	13%	21%	18%

 

Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?
	Overall	1% or less Black	2% or less Black	5% or less Black
Mostly White	31%	54%	43%	44%
Mostly Black	8%	4%	2%	2%
Mostly Another Race	4%	1%	4%	4%
Variety of Races	52%	36%	45%	45%
Don't Know/ Refused	5%	5%	6%	5%

 

In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?
	Overall	1% or less Black	2% or less Black	5% or less Black
Segregated	9%	11%	8%	10%
A Good Mix	75%	68%	72%	70%
Don't Know/ Refused	16%	22%	20%	21%

 

 

 

Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?
	Overall	White	Black	Hispanic/Latino/a
Mostly White	31%	40%	16%	15%
Mostly Black	8%	4%	30%	8%
Mostly Another Race	4%	4%	7%	7%
Variety of Races	52%	49%	44%	63%
Don't Know/ Refused	5%	4%	2%	8%

 

In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?
	Overall	White	Black	Hispanic/Latino/a
Segregated	9%	10%	5%	6%
A Good Mix	75%	73%	83%	79%
Don't Know/ Refused	16%	17%	12%	15%

 

White Voters Only: Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?
	White	45.6% White or Less	45.6%-68.8%	68.8%-80%	80% or more White
Mostly White	40%	24%	27%	44%	58%
Mostly Black	3%	11%	3%	1%	1%
Mostly Another Race	4%	6%	5%	3%	0%
Variety of Races	49%	56%	58%	47%	39%
Don't Know/ Refused	5%	3%	7%	4%	2%

 

White Voters Only: In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?
	White	45.6% White or Less	45.6%-68.8%	68.8%-80%	80% or more White
Segregated	10%	8%	8%	14%	10%
A Good Mix	73%	79%	74%	72%	68%
Don't Know/ Refused	17%	13%	18%	14%	22%

 

 

 

White Voters Only:  Which proposals, if any, would you support?
	White	45.6% White or Less	45.6%-68.8%	68.8%-80%	80% or more White
Force District Mergers	36%	45%	34%	35%	32%
Easier Transfers	66%	74%	70%	66%	59%
Regional Magnet Schools	53%	60%	54%	49%	51%
Bus Between Districts	33%	37%	35%	32%	28%

 

Can something only be racist if someone decided to do something racist, or can racist outcomes happen even if no one has racist intent?
	Overall	Dem	Indp	Rep
Requires Racist Intent	39%	26%	41%	56%
Can Happen Without Racist Intent	52%	69%	45%	35%
Not Sure	10%	5%	14%	9%

 

Can something only be racist if someone decided to do something racist, or can racist outcomes happen even if no one has racist intent?
	Overall	White	Black	Hispanic/Latino/a
Requires Racist Intent	39%	39%	38%	34%
Can Happen Without Racist Intent	52%	51%	56%	52%
Not Sure	10%	10%	6%	14%

 

Would you say the schools where you live have students who are mostly white, mostly black, mostly another race, or are the students from a variety of races?
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
Mostly White	31%	32%	30%	32%
Mostly Black	8%	6%	7%	10%
Mostly Another Race	4%	4%	4%	5%
Variety of Races	52%	53%	56%	48%
Don't Know/ Refused	5%	5%	3%	5%

 

In the area where you live, would you say the schools are segregated by race or is there a good mix of different races?
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
Segregated	9%	8%	9%	8%
A Good Mix	75%	76%	78%	72%
Don't Know/ Refused	16%	16%	13%	20%

 

 

 

Which proposals, if any, would you support?
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
Force District Mergers	44%	44%	44%	43%
Easier Transfers	72%	71%	75%	70%
Regional Magnet Schools	56%	54%	61%	54%
Bus Between Districts	41%	37%	44%	43%

 

White Voters in Top Quartile of White Municipalities Who Say Racism Requires Racist Intent
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	52%	53%	41%	63%
Schools "Segregated"	6%	0%	6%	11%
Force District Mergers	19%	19%	13%	26%
Easier Transfers	48%	44%	53%	49%
Regional Magnet Schools	37%	31%	47%	31%
Bus Between Districts	17%	3%	28%	20%

 

White Voters in Top Quartile of White Municipalities Who Say Racism Requires Can be Systemic
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	61%	56%	62%	65%
Schools "Segregated"	12%	6%	17%	14%
Force District Mergers	43%	44%	49%	35%
Easier Transfers	66%	58%	74%	65%
Regional Magnet Schools	61%	53%	72%	59%
Bus Between Districts	36%	31%	43%	33%

 

Democrats
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	31%	29%	30%	35%
Schools "Segregated"	8%	9%	4%	11%
Force District Mergers	56%	56%	57%	55%
Easier Transfers	82%	82%	85%	77%
Regional Magnet Schools	67%	64%	73%	65%
Bus Between Districts	49%	46%	52%	50%

 

 

 

Republicans
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	35%	33%	35%	37%
Schools "Segregated"	9%	7%	11%	8%
Force District Mergers	25%	22%	28%	25%
Easier Transfers	60%	58%	67%	56%
Regional Magnet Schools	45%	45%	49%	41%
Bus Between Districts	29%	23%	33%	30%

 

Democrats in Municipalities that are 80% or more White
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	61%	63%	61%	59%
Schools "Segregated"	13%	7%	9%	20%
Force District Mergers	17%	20%	11%	19%
Easier Transfers	49%	49%	58%	42%
Regional Magnet Schools	37%	29%	42%	40%
Bus Between Districts	19%	14%	22%	21%

 

Republicans in Municipalities that are 80% or more White
	Overall	Control Condition	Racism Condition	Party Condition
"Mostly White" Students	51%	34%	50%	65%
Schools "Segregated"	6%	6%	6%	7%
Force District Mergers	52%	33%	61%	59%
Easier Transfers	76%	77%	82%	70%
Regional Magnet Schools	68%	57%	85%	64%
Bus Between Districts	43%	33%	61%	36%