River Forest District 90's DEI Paradox: Less Diversity, Wider Achievement Gaps

Nearly a decade after District 90 embraced equity initiatives, Black and low-income enrollment has plummeted while achievement gaps widened—raising questions about the distance between adult ambitions and student outcomes.

Illinois State Board of Education records show Black student enrollment in River Forest declined by 56%, from 6.6% in 2018 to 2.9% in 2026, while low-income student enrollment declined by 75%, from 5.9% to 1.5% over the same period. Hispanic enrollment also declined from 10.1% to 8.3%, while the White student enrollment moved from 72.1% to 70.8% with a low-point in 2022 of 62.7%. These changes occurred while overall district enrollment declined by roughly 10%. 

Statewide, Black student enrollment has been 16% over the same period.  Low-income enrollment has oscillated between 46% and 50%, while Hispanic enrollment has risen slightly from 26.2% to a high in 2025 of 28.6%.  Statewide, white student enrollment has steadily declined from 48% to 43.9% over the same period, according to ISBE.

River Forest district 90 was unique among the 20 districts it calls Comparable High Performing Districts. Only five had any decline in enrollment for Black or low-income students between 2018 and 2026, and only three of twenty had any decline in both low-income and Black students over the same period.

Between 2018 and 2026, Black student enrollment in River Forest fell from 95 to 38 students, approximately 76% more than the next-largest decline in Hillside District 93. Low-income enrollment fell from 84 to 20 students in River Forest, second largest decline only to Hillside. Unlike Hillside, where low-income students still represent a majority of enrollment, District 90's low-income population has fallen to just 1.5% of its student body. Note – ISBE suppresses data when numbers are low.

The trends suggest the declines in Black and low-income student enrollment were substantially greater than the districtwide enrollment decline, greater than declines in districts described as comparable, and greater compared to state averages.

E3 does not have information on whether comparable districts implemented part or all of a similar DEI initiative, or whether their high schools underwent a similar de-tracking like Oak Park & River Forest district 200. There was an allegation at the time that district 90’s consortium of schools flatly rejected superintendent Condon’s invitation to elevate social programs above curriculum and instruction.

Some students more equal than others

River Forest District 90 switched to an “equal educational opportunity” policy when Ralph Martire became board president in 2015. 

Martire told the Wednesday Journal in 2019 the district had implemented “a new instructional pedagogy that would eliminate achievement gaps, diversifying D90’s workforce, instituting professional development, adapting more culturally appropriate teaching materials, making the equity committee a permanent standing group, and embedding equity initiatives into the district’s strategic plan”. 

The new pedagogy involved changes in curricula, instructional practices, evaluations, grading, implementing block scheduling in middle school and more. Lessons would no longer be differentiated by ability level. The board, voting unanimously, believed academic tracking was racist and could hurt feelings and condemn students to a permanent position in society.

School officials believed equal student outcomes could be achieved by adopting a flawed theory of how students learn—primarily from one another instead direct teacher instruction.

Martire told a school board audience “your student will help the teacher when they master the lesson” instead of being challenged to learn more. Meanwhile, district communicators continued promoting the promises of equity while withholding the impact on student outcomes.

Widening achievement gap

The gap in proficiency between low-income and non-low income students grew to the largest in district history by 2024, roughly doubling to as high as 48% and 58% for ELA and math, respectively.  This gap dwarfed the State averages of 31% and 30% for the same period, and unbeknownst to residents, River Forest became a national outlier for low learning rates.

The gap in proficiency between black and white students in River Forest exceeded state averages for ELA and math in 2022. By 2024, the ELA gap was 16% compared to 30% for the State, and 31% for math compared to 30% for the State.

These trends do not establish that district DEI policies caused families to leave. They do raise a question school officials should be willing to confront:

How did a district so committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion become substantially less diverse while the achievement gaps it promised to close grew wider?

It's E3, where Equity still means fairness.

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