Education Equity

1. The Current Crisis

Current Segregation:

• Schools Are More Segregated Now Than in 1968: Brown v. Board (1954) desegregated schools, but resegregation occurred
• 35% of Black Students attend intensely segregated schools (90%+ students of color)
• Resource Gap: White districts spend $2,200 more per student than districts serving mostly students of color

2. Mandatory Integration Enforcement

Federal Oversight:

• Revive the Office for Civil Rights: Aggressive enforcement (currently toothless)
• Sue Segregated Districts: Federal lawsuits forcing integration (like 1970s)
• Withhold Funding: Districts refusing to integrate lose federal funds

Regional Desegregation:

• Metro-Wide Integration: City + suburbs must integrate (not just within-district)
  • Example: Boston metro (70 districts) must coordinate
• Mandatory Busing: Federal funding for busing across district lines
  • Revive 1970s busing programs (politically difficult, but necessary)

Magnet Schools:

• Integrated-by-Design: Specialized schools (arts, STEM, and language immersion) draw diverse students
• Free Transportation: From all neighborhoods
• Lottery Admissions: Weighted to ensure racial/economic diversity

Example: Wake County, NC (Success Story)

• 2000-2010: Mandatory integration policy (no school >40% low-income)
• Result: Achievement gap narrowed, all schools improved
• 2010: Republicans ended policy, resegregation followed, and the gaps widened

3. Resource Equity Enforcement

Current Funding:

• Local Property Taxes Fund Schools: Rich areas = wealthy schools, poor areas = underfunded schools
  • This is unconstitutional (equal protection), but Supreme Court upheld it (San Antonio v. Rodriguez, 1973)

Solution: State Equalization

Model: Vermont

• All Property Taxes Go to the State: Redistributed equally per-pupil
• Result: Rich towns can't hoard resources and poor towns gets adequate funding

Federal Supplement:

• Triple Title I Funding: $45 billion/year (currently $18B)
• Targeted to: High-poverty schools (but not segregated by design)

Facilities Equity:

• Audit All Schools: Identify crumbling buildings, lack of AC/heat, mold, and lead paint
• $200 Billion Infrastructure Fund: Repair/rebuild schools in poor communities
  • Cannot allow rich districts to have state-of-art facilities while poor districts have 100-year-old buildings

4. Gentrification Education Justice

Implementation:

School Attendance Boundaries:

• Cannot Redraw: To exclude longtime residents when neighborhood gentrifies
• Grandfather Clause: Families living in neighborhood before gentrification guaranteed spots

Cultural Program Protection:

• Cannot Eliminate: ESL classes, bilingual education, and cultural celebrations when white families arrive
  • Common: Gentrifying parents demand "gifted programs," push out multicultural education

Community School Control:

• Parent/Community Boards: Must reflect longstanding residents (not just newcomers)
• Decisions: Curriculum, principal hiring, and resource allocation

Anti-Displacement:

• Tied to Housing Policy: Cannot displace families from homes (integrated with housing justice platform)