Daniel Sim's mother was warned not to send her son to Fitzroy Primary. Credit:Eddie Jim "White flight" is shaping education in Melbourne's inner city state schools, leading to unofficial segregation along race and class. In the Greens-voting socially liberal enclaves of the inner north, white middle class families have deserted the schools closest to the remaining commission housing towers, while competing for spots in a handful of schools seen to have greater prestige. Schools such as Fitzroy Primary, Carlton Primary School and Mount Alexander College in Flemington have become catchments for poor students of African heritage, many of whom live in the flats. Between 71 to 94 per cent of students attending these schools speak a language other than English at home. The average median house price in some of these school's suburbs teeters around $1 million, yet about 60 to 80 per cent of students at these schools are among the poorest in the state.

Illustration: Matt Golding. They've been called "sink schools" – schools drained of affluent families and high achieving students. White families with higher incomes are opting to enrol their children in over-subscribed schools a few suburbs away. They favour Clifton Hill, Princes Hill and Merri Creek primary schools, where 79 to 84 per cent of families are among the state's richest. These schools – with just 10 to 30 per cent of students speaking a language other than English at home – offer accelerated programs, overseas trips and boast above-average NAPLAN scores.

Abeselom Nega, an Ethiopian refugee and community leader, is alarmed by this trend. "The white parents don't send their kids to these schools because all they see is black kids," says Mr Nega, who sits on the board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. "They may not view it as racism, but it is … you can sugar coat it, and put it differently, but I won't." The great school divide You can see the disparity between the schools in the map below of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North. At Sacred Heart School – located on one of the suburb's wealthiest streets (median weekly wage of about $2700) – 74 per cent of its students are among the poorest in the state and 94 per cent of students speak a language other than English at home.

South on Johnston Street is St Joseph's School, across the street from the Wellington Street commission flats – 76 per cent of its families are among the state's poorest, and 85 per cent speak a language other than English at home. Over in Carlton and Carlton North, we see a similar pattern. Carlton Primary, in a block where the median house price is nudging $1 million, most of the students have Eritrean and Ethiopian backgrounds, and live in the Rathdowne Street flats. White middle class families in this area send their children to Carlton North Primary, Princes Hill Primary School and Princes Hill Secondary College.

In Kensington and Flemington, two schools – Debney Meadows Primary School and Mount Alexander College – have become de-facto schools for migrant families living in the surrounding towers. Both schools have the capacity for twice their current enrolments. Yet University High is comparatively wealthier and is oversubscribed. The lens of whiteness These are not isolated examples. It is common for white parents to choose schools through a "lens of whiteness", said University of Cambridge's senior lecturer, Dr Arathi Sriprakash​, who is researching racial politics in Australian schooling.

"We don't have the White Australia policy any more, we are not talking about explicit or overt racism that you might recognise from the past, but racism exists in more coded ways. It occurs in school choice, in the way parents decide what is a good, bad or risky school." According to Victoria University adjunct Professor Richard Teese​, wealthy families have the privilege of being more selective with their children's schooling. Yet newly arrived migrant families find it harder to navigate the complex school system, and often send their children to the closest local school. "If we start educating people separately, we run the risk of creating ghettos, and the formation of hostile social attitudes." Abselom Nega Credit:Jason South

Hiba Shanino, 16, is a fiery advocate for her school, Mount Alexander College. The 16-year-old, whose parents moved to Australia from Eritrea before she was born, is articulate, enthusiastic and ambitious – she plans to study law. She leads her own organisation supporting African youth, and is thriving at a school colloquially known as "the refo school". "They are looking from the outside, it's all external observation from the kerb. At Mount Alexander College you learn so much, especially because it is a multicultural school." "You learn so much from the kids. You hear these amazing stories about war, about loss … and it makes you appreciate what you have."

About three quarters of the school's student body are migrants or refugees, mostly from Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Vietnam. The school has 319 enrolments, but the capacity for twice the number, while schools nearby such as University High are over-subscribed. But Mount Alexander is improving, thanks to new principal Wayne Haworth. Mr Haworth joined the school a year ago with a vision to "rebirth" the college. He believes it's his job to modernise the curriculum, so that it caters for students excelling in certain areas and supports those whose learning has been interrupted by migration.

He has abolished year levels, enabling students to learn subjects according to their ability rather than their age. He's introduced an accelerated learning program. If a Year 8 student is capable, they will learn alongside VCE students. "A lot of the families in the Flemington and Kensington area are highly aspirational," Mr Haworth says. "They should know that so are we." Do you know more? timna.jacks@fairfaxmedia.com.au