ERIC Number: ED607766
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 36
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Model State School Integration Policies. Policy Brief No. 11
National Coalition on School Diversity
As educators across the country make a valiant effort to meet the needs of their students in response to the coronavirus crisis, the educational impacts of disparities in family resources and school funding are apparent. The crisis also reminds us of the many roles that schools play beyond academics. When students eventually return to school, will we merely continue our current policies, or might we make some progress in developing a fairer public school system, including, potentially, a more integrated one? State governments are in the best position to reverse the tide of increasing racial and socioeconomic segregation in our public schools, if the political will is present. The federal government, through the Every Student Succeeds Act ("ESSA"), provides significant compensatory funding for lower-income schools in Title I. Related sections of ESSA can also provide funding incentives for school integration, as could Congress. But for the past few decades, Congress has been reluctant to impose any real accountability for integration on state and local governments. This leaves a very large policy vacuum for state governments to fill. The model policies in this policy brief represent small but meaningful steps that state legislatures can take to begin to bring students and communities back together. These policies would begin to provide greater flexibility and support for districts that understand the value of racial and socioeconomic integration, and greater accountability for segregation both within and across districts. They propose funding for a variety of voluntary integration efforts, put stronger limits on school district secession, require assessments of the segregation impacts of significant capital investments, and institute systems of measurement for school segregation--something only a handful of states currently require. [These model state policies were written with the assistance of Sue Lin from Hogan Lovells.]
Descriptors: School Desegregation, State Policy, Public Schools, Accountability, State Legislation, Magnet Schools, Summer Programs, After School Programs, Student Placement, Equal Education, School Construction, School Districts, School District Reorganization, Student Diversity, State Aid, Grants, Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation
National Coalition on School Diversity. 1200 18th Street NW Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-906-8023; e-mail: school-diversity@prrac.org; Web site: http://www.school-diversity.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Coalition on School Diversity; Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Every Student Succeeds Act 2015
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A