Desegregation

This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
AP Photo
Equity & Diversity Educational Inequality: 4 Moments in History That Explain Where We Are Today
A new Columbia University report highlights how inequality was embedded in the creation of public education in the United States.
Ileana Najarro, March 20, 2023
•
5 min read
v42 16 sr equity cover intro 112322
Illustration by Chris Whetzel for Education Week
Equity & Diversity The Ongoing Challenges, and Possible Solutions, to Improving Educational Equity
Schools across the country were facing major equity challenges before the pandemic, but its disruptions exacerbated them.
Eesha Pendharkar, January 26, 2023
•
4 min read
The first black students to enroll at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., leave the building and walk toward a waiting Army station wagon following their classes on Oct. 2, 1957. Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, marks the 60th anniversary of when nine black students enrolled at the Arkansas school. One of the nine students is obscured by another student in this photograph.
The first Black students to enroll at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., leave the building and walk toward a waiting Army station wagon following their classes on Oct. 2, 1957. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Dec. 31, 2022, highlighted the history of the Little Rock crisis in his year-end report.
Ferd Kaufman/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court to Highlight Little Rock, Desegregation History in Exhibit to Open Next Fall
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. highlights the brave role of a federal judge in Little Rock in 1957, and draws some parallels to today.
Mark Walsh, December 31, 2022
•
3 min read
v42 16 sr equity segregation 112322
Illustration by Chris Whetzel for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Schools Are Resegregating. There's a Push for the Supreme Court to Consider That
As the court weighs race-conscious college admissions policies, some say the needs of resegregating K-12 schools ought to be considered, too.
Mark Walsh, November 28, 2022
•
8 min read
Evanston, IL - August 24: Teacher DarLisa Himrod poses for a portrait in her classroom for ages 3-5 at Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022 in Evanston, Ill. Nimrod previously worked with ages 0-3 and completed a yearlong residency to receive her teaching certification.
After one of the most challenging years of her life, DarLisa Himrod landed a position as a certified preschool special education teacher at the Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center in Evanston, Ill.
Taylor Glascock for Education Week
Recruitment & Retention A New Teacher at 50: Inside the Struggle to Rebuild America's Black Teaching Workforce
A suburban Chicago school district was desperate to hire more teachers of color and root out racism. Enter DarLisa Himrod.
Benjamin Herold, October 11, 2022
•
25 min read
Palm trees are visible around the water tower in Uvalde, Texas, on July 20, 2022.
Palm trees surround the water tower in Uvalde, Texas. The town is the site of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
Jordan Vonderhaar for Education Week
Equity & Diversity In Uvalde, Pain Where There Once Was Pride
Past and present residents of Uvalde, Texas, recount a deeper story of Robb Elementary—one that began years before the May 24 mass shooting.
Ileana Najarro, August 16, 2022
•
12 min read
African American Girl holding book and reading in an elementary school lesson
Getty
Equity & Diversity An Expansive Look at School Segregation Shows It's Getting Worse
Most of the increases have come within the nation's 100 largest districts.
Eesha Pendharkar, June 3, 2022
•
4 min read
May 26, 1866 – Harpers Weekly
May 26, 1866 – Harpers Weekly
Equity & Diversity Q&A Racist Bomb Threats and Post-Civil War School Burnings: A Scholar Connects the Dots
Hundreds of Black schools built during Reconstruction were burned, but racist violence against schools is hardly a historical footnote.
Mark Lieberman, March 9, 2022
•
9 min read
Image of diverse hands in a team huddle.
melitas/iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Could School Resegregation Drive White Students to Become Democrats as Adults?
A researcher tracked the political affiliation of adults who graduated from high schools where court-ordered desegregation was lifted.
Andrew Ujifusa, June 4, 2021
•
6 min read
Image shows a courtroom and gavel.
imaginima/E+
Law & Courts Decades-Old Desegregation Case Drawing to a Close in Tucson, Ariz.
After more than 40 years, the Tucson Unified School District is being released from court oversight for its decades-old desegregation case.
Danyelle Khmara, The Arizona Daily Star, April 22, 2021
•
5 min read
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos arrives for an event in the State Dining room of the White House in Washington. As millions of American children start the school year online, the Trump administration is hoping to convert their parents’ frustration and anger into newfound support for school choice policies that DeVos has long championed but struggled to advance nationally.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos arrives at a White House event in August. Civil rights activists expect the next education secretary will restore guidance to schools that she rescinded on transgender students’ rights, sexual assault, and school integration efforts.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
Federal Schools Could See U-Turn on Civil Rights Under Biden
Activists expect to see renewed guidance, more active enforcement, and better data collection from the Ed. Department’s civil rights office.
Christina A. Samuels, December 2, 2020
•
8 min read
Equity & Diversity Despite Push, Few Schools Have Dropped Confederate Names
An Education Week analysis shows that 5 percent of the nation's Confederate-named schools have been renamed since June.
Corey Mitchell, September 30, 2020
•
3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Illustration by Jamiel Law
Equity & Diversity Reported Essay Do America's Public Schools Owe Black People Reparations?
School districts must make amends for their racist history, writes Daarel Burnette II. What should that look like?
Daarel Burnette II, September 23, 2020
•
9 min read
v40 6BI DB SOC
Illustration by Jamiel Law
Big Ideas in Education Special Report Big Ideas for Confronting Racism in Education
There’s no single solution for combating anti-Black racism in schools. That’s why we filled an entire special report on the subject.
September 23, 2020
Load More ▼