Seventy years after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the “separate but equal” policy of segregating America’s public schools, those schools remain deeply segregated, according to data compiled by ABC News and ABC’s Owned Television (OTV) stations. Using 2022-2023 student enrollment data from the U.S. Department of Education for more than 100,000 public schools, the ABC News analysis found:

• Overall, about 83% of all Black public school students and 82% of all Latino students attended a majority non-White school. At the same time, 75% of all White public school students were enrolled in a majority-White school.

• Segregation was most persistent in America’s elementary (housing grade levels K-6), which draw more of their students from surrounding neighborhoods. About 83% of all Black and Latino public school students in those grades were enrolled in majority Non-White schools, while 76% of White students in those grades were in majority-White schools.

• Elementary schools in the West and South regions of the U.S. were the most segregated. About 87% of Black and Latino students attending public elementary schools in Western states went to a majority non-White school last year, while 64% of White students in the West went to majority-White schools. Eighty-five percent of Black and Hispanic students in Southern states went to majority non-White elementary schools, while 67% of White students studied at majority-White schools.
A 2022 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on public school population noted that school segregation comes at a time when public school students are the most racially diverse in U.S. history. The ABC News – OTV analysis echoes that point: • During the 2022-2023 school year, about 45% of public school students were White; 28% were Latino, and about 15% were Black. Asian (5.5%), multi-race (5%), Native American (1%), Hawaiian students (less than 1%) made up the rest of the enrolled population. That’s a drastic change from 1954 when the Supreme Court decision was rendered, when about 90% of public school students were White and most of the other students were Black, according to the GAO study. • But the ABC News – OTV analysis found that, by the 2022-2023 school year, more than half the schools had majority non-White student enrollment in at least 18 states and the District of Columbia.

Why is student diversity important? One recent study have found that segregated schools create funding inequities. A 2019 report by EdBuild, a nonprofit agency that focuses on school funding, found that schools in predominantly non-White districts receive $23 billion less in funding each year than schools in majority White districts.
The EdBuild study noted that equates to roughly $2,200 less per student per year in mostly non-White districts. Other studies have concluded that having schools with diverse student populations reduces racial and ethnic prejudice, enhances critical thinking skills, and builds cross-racial relationships among students. What causes segregated schools? While some studies conclude that residential segregation in America is declining, many neighborhoods across the U.S. remain both racially and economically segregated. Researchers believe that phenomenon creates a natural segregation pattern within many of America’s public school districts – particularly those with “neighborhood-based” elementary schools, which draw children from nearby neighborhoods. Segregated schools, therefore, often reflect segregated neighborhoods. Our ABC News – OTV analysis illustrates that point: • In the 2022-203 school year, about 60% of elementary schools (housing grades levels K-6) with majority non-White students were located in census tract neighborhoods with majority non-White populations. Meanwhile, nearly all (96.5%) the elementary schools with majority White students were located in majority White neighborhoods. Since attendance boundaries often determine the public school in which students enroll, researchers believe more intentional student assignments to schools can reduce segregation. The 2022 GAO study found that more than 13,000 public schools that are predominantly of one race are located within 10 miles of a school that is predominantly of another race. Another key factor in public school segregation in recent years has been the rise of school choice, allowing parents to self-segregate by sending their children to charter schools or other schools beyond their zoned school. One study found that areas with more students enrolled in charter schools were associated with higher school segregation. • Our ABC News – OTV analysis found that about 71% of all charter schools in the U.S. were majority non-White during the 2022-2023 school year, compared to about 46% of all traditional public schools.

Brown vs Board decision: The Aftermath The Supreme Court’s Brown vs Board of Education 1954 decision was supposed to – theoretically – end the school segregation patterns that exist today. The Court ruled that racially segregated school systems were “inherently unequal,” and that when type of segregation stemmed from state laws, those laws must be struck down as unconstitutional. Over the next 20 years – through redistricting plans, “freedom of choice” plans that allowed some black students to transfer to all-White schools, and federal court-ordered busing plans – there was gradual – sometimes begrudging – change in the racial makeup of many schools. Data collected for a 1983 report by education researcher Gary Orfield found that the percent of Black public school students attending “predominantly minority” schools dropped from 76.6% in 1968 to 62.9% by 1980. The Orfield study found that the deepest drop in Black students attending segregated schools was in the South, where there was the most focus on dismantling overall segregation – from 80.9% in 1968 to 57.1% by 1980. But in the 20 years following 1980, costly busing orders began to expire. Whites moved out of cities and flocked to the suburbs. Charter schools began to emerge and magnet schools, created to attract White students into diverse school environments began to disappear. The school segregation that was prevalent – and often intentional – when the Brown vs Board of Education ruling was rendered began to redevelop. And despite the efforts and billions of dollars America has invested in desegregating its public schools, our data show we’re back at the same levels of segregation we were at in the 1960s. --Analysis: Mark Nichols