The elephant in the room of our national discourse about race continues to be the de facto racial segregation of our communities, and by extension of community-based racial segregation, the segregation of our nation’s system of public schools. Sixty-two years after the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision in which United States Supreme Court declared the de jure segregation of public institutions a violation of the equal protection provisions in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the United States continues to maintain a system that promotes de facto racial segregation caused by racially segregated housing patterns (CITATION). Nowhere is this de facto racial segregation more apparent than in our nation’s system of public schools.
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The Court recognized that housing patterns in the State was the root cause of racial isolation, and, as a function of racial isolation, a primary contributing factor to the lower academic achievement of racially isolated minority students (CITATATION and QUOTE). It was clear to the Court, and blatantly obvious to any objective observer of public education in Connecticut, that the State’s system in which education is administered at the local level by 169 independent towns and cities is the primary cause of Connecticut’s de facto racial segregation. The availability of affordable housing largely determines the racial composition of Connecticut’s cities and towns, and by extension, the racial composition of a district’s public schools (CITATION). Suburban communities in which housing prices are high, attract white families, while urban centers where affordable housing is readily available, attract minority families (CITATION). Those communities in which there is a mix of housing prices tend to attract a more diverse base of residents. As an extension of these housing patterns, public schools in wealthy suburban communities tend to be hyper-segregated white, public schools in impoverished urban centers tend to by hyper-segregated minority, and public schools in communities with a range of affordable housing tend to be integrated. The Connecticut State Supreme Court could have ended de facto racial segregation by ordering the traditional town and city-based school district model to re-constitute, and form more racially balanced school districts. The Court failed to take this direct and bold action. Instead, the Court set no goal, remedy or timeline to resolve the issue of racial isolation in Connecticut Public Schools. The Court remanded the issue to the Connecticut State Legislature with a directive that the Legislature work dutifully to
The Court recognized that housing patterns in the State was the root cause of racial isolation, and, as a function of racial isolation, a primary contributing factor to the lower academic achievement of racially isolated minority students (CITATATION and QUOTE). It was clear to the Court, and blatantly obvious to any objective observer of public education in Connecticut, that the State’s system in which education is administered at the local level by 169 independent towns and cities is the primary cause of Connecticut’s de facto racial segregation. The availability of affordable housing largely determines the racial composition of Connecticut’s cities and towns, and by extension, the racial composition of a district’s public schools (CITATION). Suburban communities in which housing prices are high, attract white families, while urban centers where affordable housing is readily available, attract minority families (CITATION). Those communities in which there is a mix of housing prices tend to attract a more diverse base of residents. As an extension of these housing patterns, public schools in wealthy suburban communities tend to be hyper-segregated white, public schools in impoverished urban centers tend to by hyper-segregated minority, and public schools in communities with a range of affordable housing tend to be integrated. The Connecticut State Supreme Court could have ended de facto racial segregation by ordering the traditional town and city-based school district model to re-constitute, and form more racially balanced school districts. The Court failed to take this direct and bold action. Instead, the Court set no goal, remedy or timeline to resolve the issue of racial isolation in Connecticut Public Schools. The Court remanded the issue to the Connecticut State Legislature with a directive that the Legislature work dutifully to