Why we need to relentlessly pursue diversity in schools - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: “In education, the road worth traveling.”
The promise of integrated schools began with Mendez et al v. Westminster School District et al, a 1946 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County, Calif. schools. It was followed by Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.
After a period of school desegregation, poorer public schools have become increasingly re-segregated. At least 70 percent of white students attend schools where at least 75 percent of the student body is white, and more than half of all black students attend poor urban schools where 90 percent are members of “minority” groups, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
