Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Img source: Axios.com
May 17, 2024 Story by: Editor
Recent findings reveal a troubling trend: the proportion of Latino students in intensely segregated schools has surged over the past three decades, as per two new reports and an Axios examination of federal data.
Why it’s significant: Intensely segregated schools, characterized by a student body over 90% nonwhite, suffer from resource deficiencies, teacher shortages, elevated student-to-counselor ratios, and limited AP course offerings.
Current developments: Despite the U.S. commemorating the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, public schools are witnessing escalating segregation and inequality, despite the nation’s increasing racial and ethnic diversity.
While Latino students constituted approximately 28% of the nation’s public school population in 2021 (up from 16% in 2000), the schools they attend have become markedly more segregated.
On average, the proportion of Latino students in intensely segregated schools surged by 67% from 1968 to 2021, with significant regional variations, according to Axios analysis. For instance, in the West, the percentage of Latino students in intensely segregated schools spiked from 12% in 1968 to 46% in 2021, notes a UCLA Civil Rights Project analysis. Source: Axios
California leads with 59% of Latino students in intensely segregated schools, followed by Texas and New York (both at 53%), per the UCLA report.
In-depth: A new study from Stanford and the University of Southern California underscores that segregation between Hispanic and white students, though lower on average compared to white and Black students, more than doubled in major school districts since the 1980s.
On average, Latino students attended schools that were 75% nonwhite, while typical Black student enrollments stood at 76% nonwhite.
Latino students were also more likely to attend schools with 60.7% of students in poverty, compared to Asian American and white students with 37% and 35% respectively.
Historical context: Despite pivotal cases like the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster, which outlawed school segregation in California, subsequent Supreme Court rulings, including Brown v. Board of Education, didn’t fully account for Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans.
Some districts took over two decades to desegregate post-court challenges and busing plans.
Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project, underscores the prolonged struggle for Latino inclusion in desegregation efforts, with enforcement consistently lacking.
Broader perspective: A 1991 Supreme Court decision, leaning conservative, terminated desegregation plans in Oklahoma City, diminishing the impact of the Brown decision, citing their redundancy.
Resegregation has been fueled by white exurban migration, alongside the role of charter schools, which can selectively admit students, notes Orfield.
