On Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Education Leaders Introduce Key Bills to Address School Segregation, Ensure Equal Access to Education
WASHINGTON – Today, on the 69th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (NY-12), and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) reintroduced two key pieces of legislation to help achieve equal education in America.
The Strength in Diversity Act, introduced with Congresswoman Jayapal, and the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act, introduced with Ranking Member Nadler, are part of House Democrats’ continued commitment to realizing the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, which remains unfulfilled.
Today, our public schools are as segregated as they were at any time since the late 1960s. According to a 2022 Government Accountability Office report, one in three public K-12 students attends a racially segregated high school. This racial isolation in schools has led to a significant gap in resources. In 2016, schools with predominantly children of color received $23 billion less than schools with predominantly white students, despite serving the same number of children. As a result, Black students who attend segregated schools throughout their K-12 career are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, attend a more selective school, and complete college.
School districts across the country have implemented innovative, locally driven strategies to address persistent school segregation, including developing state-of-the-art magnet schools, establishing open enrollment policies, or changing feeder patterns to promote diversity. However, many school districts lack the resources necessary to meaningfully address school segregation in their communities, including nearly 30 districts that applied for the Obama-era integration grant that the Trump Administration eliminated.
The Strength in Diversity Act offers support to school districts that are developing, implementing, or expanding school desegregation initiatives by establishing a federal grant program to support voluntary, local efforts to increase diversity in schools. The legislation also helps develop and maintain best practices for grantees and experts in the field of school diversity.
“Nearly seven decades after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down school segregation, the Strength in Diversity Act would bring us one step closer to delivering on its promise of equity in education,” said Ranking Member Scott. “This bill provides federal support to help school districts develop, implement, or expand efforts to integrate their local schools. The legislation will also shield these resources from the whims of changing administrations and allow communities to compile best practices for tackling segregation. Addressing America’s legacy of racial discrimination is often uncomfortable and complicated, but we must confront – not ignore – inequities in education if we are to reckon with this legacy and close achievement gaps.”
“Following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, our nation made substantial gains in desegregating schools to provide equal education,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “However, today our schools are still incredibly segregated, with many gains lost through the decades, including most recently by GOP attacks on diversity and public education. Greater integration in schools increases academic performance and leads to reduced racial biases. To ensure that everyone can access a quality education, succeed academically, earn more in the future, and advance racial and socioeconomic equity, the federal government must actively provide them the best resources by diversifying schools for all Americans. That is why the Strength in Diversity Act is a necessary bold step forward to address school segregation.”
Read the fact sheet for the Strength in Diversity Act here.
Read the section-by-section summary for the Strength in Diversity Act here.
Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act
For more than 40 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, victims of federally funded discrimination could use Title VI to challenge both discriminatory policies and practices that were created with the intent to discriminate and policies and practices that, while neutral on their face, had the effect of discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. However, in 2001, the Supreme Court stripped private citizens, including students and parents, of their right to bring disparate impact claims against schools and other federally funded programs.
The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act holds federally funded programs, including schools, accountable for providing students with equal access to education by restoring the private right of action for students and parents to bring disparate impact claims under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The bill also creates Title VI monitors to ensure every school district and institution of higher education has at least one employee responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
“History has shown that robust civil rights enforcement is critical to protecting students from discrimination and closing persistent achievement gaps,” said Ranking Member Scott. “The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act would restore the private right of action for students and parents to hold schools accountable for policies that have a disparate impact and deny students access to a quality education based on race, color or national origin. This bill also requires that every school has a Title VI monitor to ensure prompt investigations of complaints of discrimination. The denial of instructional hours and advance classes or the selective discipline of students of color are often the result of structural inequities in education, rather than expressed bigotry. This bill allows impacted parents and students the right to seek remedy for these policies and biases that are in fact discriminatory, regardless of intent.”
“Our schools should be safe spaces for students to learn and prepare to make important contributions to our society, but far too often, students face discrimination in the classroom,” said House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Nadler. “This legislation restores the right of students and their families to hold schools accountable for discrimination and bias with the force of federal law. All students deserve an equal education, and Congress should speed the passage of this legislation to protect that right. I’m proud to join Rep. Scott in introducing this bill on the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, which serves as a reminder of the work that remains to provide all students with equal opportunity for a quality education.”
Read the fact sheet for the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act here.
Read the section-by-section summary for the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act here.
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