Segregation in education settings is on the rise, cautions a resource that ranks states on racial and economic segregation in public schools and offers strategies to address the issue.
Published by Brown’s Promise and The Segregation Tracking Project (a collaboration between Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles), researchers concluded that decades after the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, schools across America have “seen marked increases in racial and economic segregation since the 1980s.” Not only has segregation persisted, but schools are as segregated now as they were in the 1970s, according to the resource.
Using data from 2023–24, the most recent available, calculations on racial segregation were based on segregation between white students and their Black, Hispanic and Native American peers, while economic segregation considers segregation between students who are eligible for the federal free and reduced-rice lunch program (determined to be a measure of poverty) and those who are not.
Looking at race, California ranked 25th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. with a rate of 72 percent for segregation between districts and 28 percent for segregation within districts.
By economic status, California ranked 10th with a rate of 66 percent for segregation between districts and 34 percent for segregation within districts.
The resource also explores the harms of concentrated poverty, explaining it is hard to teach and learn in classrooms where most students are from low-income households and are more likely to face challenges like unmet health needs and overexposure to trauma. “In some states — especially those with hundreds of tiny school districts — there are many high-poverty districts located directly next to much wealthier districts,” the resource reads. “This sort of district-wide ‘poverty packing’ is a uniquely harmful problem that requires state action to address.”
The organizations detail five state policy solutions intended to end school segregation, including funding public schools fully and fairly, rethinking school district lines, ensuring integration within districts, centering positive student experiences and cultivating a supportive policy ecosystem.
“Segregation ensures division, while integration can lead to significant increases in school resources that produce higher outcomes — particularly for students of color,” the resource says of the importance of ending school segregation. “Additionally, research shows that school integration causes positive, permanent changes in mindset that can improve social cohesion and the health of our democracy.”
