Michelle Wilson works with kindergardner Trevor Russelle and third grader Kendall Ward during family
literacy night at Lincoln Park Primary School in Pensacola. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)

This NPR story highlights the benefits that white children get when they attend schools with a more diverse environment.

Why is that important? Here's an excerpt:

Considering that the United States is projected to be majority-minority by 2044, when today's elementary school students are in the workforce, being comfortable with difference may become a competitive necessity.

All of the researchers (NPR writer Anya Kamenetz) spoke with emphasized that the benefits of diversity don't come at the stroke of a redistricting pen.

"The benefits aren't automatic," says Katherine Phillips is a professor at Columbia Business School who studies the benefits of diversity. "If you put people in diverse environments they can go really badly or really well. A lot of it is a function of things like how much you respect the people in the room."

Still, given that truly integrated public schools have long-established benefits for students who are poor and who come from minority groups, many researchers believe that creating classrooms that benefit everyone is a good policy.

"Cities and schools need really strong leadership that articulates clearly the need for diversity and equity and why it's connected to 21st century skills," says Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, an education professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, who researches race, stratification and inequality in American schools.

Studer Institute fellow Reggie Dogan wrote in September about the benefits of diversity in the teaching here and the challenges that exist in finding candidates to fill those spots.