VOA教育报道2024--70 Years after Brown Decision, School Segregation Getting Worse

May 17 marked the 70th anniversary of one of the most notable cases in U.S. Supreme¹ Court history - Brown versus² Board of Education.

The 1954 decision declared segregated⁴ schools unconstitutional. It also struck down the principle of "separate but equal," which was used as the basis for U.S. government policies related to racial segregation⁵. President Dwight Eisenhower famously sent federal troops to southern states to enforce the decision.

Today, American schools cannot legally restrict students based on race. But because of long-held economic divides and other issues, some schools have become segregated in a de facto way.

'Moving backward'

Some researchers say that despite the continuing ban, school segregation has gotten worse over the years, even as the U.S. overall has become more racially diverse.

A team from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently released a report examining the ways segregation has changed in U.S. schools. The report is called "The Unfinished Battle for Integration⁶ in a Multiracial America - from Brown to Now." It was written by two UCLA professors - Gary Orfield and Ryan Pfleger.

The study found that schools have gotten less white, and more Latino, Asian and multiracial. But it also noted⁷ the number of schools considered "intensely segregated" tripled from 1988 to 2021. The study defined intensely segregated as schools with white student populations of less than 10 percent. About 20 percent of American schools are intensely segregated, up from 7 percent in 1988, the report found.

The study's writers state that "schools of the South are dramatically less segregated than the apartheid conditions that had always existed before Brown." However, Orfield and Pfleger add that the Supreme Court decision's historic aims "have not been attained⁹ and, as this report shows, we have been moving backward."

The researchers found that Black and Latino students were the most highly segregated populations. In 2021, schools overall were 45 percent mostly white. But on average, Black students attended schools that were about 76 percent non-white. For Latino students, the school average was about 75 percent non-white.

Education experts say segregation especially hurts Black and Latino schools. This is because they are often underfunded and have higher rates of teacher shortages. Non-white school districts receive $23 billion less funding than mostly white school districts, a 2019 report by the nonprofit group EdBuild found.

"The trends are toward increasing double segregation, by both race or ethnicity and poverty," the UCLA study said.

Researchers at another California university, Stanford, found that schools are getting more segregated even as neighborhoods have gotten more diverse and racial economic inequality has improved.

The "findings indicate that policy choices - not demographic changes - are driving the increase," said Sean Reardon. He is a professor at Stanford who specializes in how poverty and inequality affects education.

Reintegrating Schools

The UCLA study noted that desegregation policies following the Brown decision were generally aimed at improving access to schools for Black students.

But 70 years later, the issue of school segregation has gotten more complex. Latinos now make up the largest U.S. minority group and the Asian population has also grown. "Most Americans of all racial groups think integrated schools are better, but are divided about what, if anything, to actually do," the UCLA study states.

The researchers offered several suggestions for improving integration. One is for districts to increase efforts to register students from poorer areas and offer more diverse school programs.

A 2018 article by the nonprofit group Edutopia described how some school districts have been successful in improving integration. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, every school must have a balance of wealthier and poorer families. In San Antonio, Texas, bilingual schools and other specialized¹⁰ programs have brought in students from many different backgrounds.

And in New York City, schools have made progress by removing standardized¹¹ testing requirements. Others introduced admittance systems that take into account whether a student is poor, homeless or a non-native English speaker.

"American schools have been moving away from the goal of Brown and creating more 'inherently unequal' schools for a third of a century," writers of the UCLA study wrote. "It will soon become understood once more that ... schools that serve all children together with equity¹² are central to any good outcomes."

Words in This Story

segregate³ - v. to separate groups of people because of their particular race, religion, etc.

de facto - adj. used to describe something that exists but that is not officially accepted or recognized

diverse - adj. different from each other

dramatic - n. sudden and extreme

apartheid - n. a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

attain⁸ - v. to accomplish or achieve

demographic - n. the qualities of a specific group of people

access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

integrate - v. to combine to form or create something

inherent - adj. belonging to the basic nature of someone or something

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 segregate   

adj.分离的，被隔离的；vt.使分离，使隔离

参考例句：

• We have to segregate for a few day.我们得分离一段日子。
• Some societies still segregate men and women.有的社会仍然将男女隔离。

4 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

5 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

6 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

9 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

10 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

11 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

12 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。