04.22.24

Ranking Member Scott Requests Hearing on the State of School Segregation

Seven decades after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, we have yet to fulfill the promise of equity in education.

WASHINGTON – One month ahead of the 70th anniversary year of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) urged Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) to hold a hearing to examine the state of school segregation. 

Seven decades after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, we have yet to fulfill the promise of equity in education. According to a 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, high poverty schools where more than 75 percent of students were from low-income and from Black or Latino families increased from 9 percent in 2000-2001 to 16 percent in 2013-2014. The report also found that these schools had fewer resources and disproportionately high rates of school discipline. 

“The benefits of attending diverse schools extend to all students beyond school-age, continuing into adulthood, resulting in societal benefits such as more integrated communities, higher levels of social cohesion and reduced racial prejudice,” Ranking Member Scott wrote. “It is imperative that this Committee examine whether our nation’s schools are meeting the charge given by the Supreme Court and evidence-based policies to eradicate the vestiges of school segregation.”

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is responsible with drafting laws governing public education and overseeing federal dollars spent on public education, which are normally used to benefit all students and families that who matriculate through our public school system. Yet this Congress, Committee Republicans have focused their attention on banning books in school, politicizing classrooms, and draining public-school funding. 

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

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