More than 70 years ago, the Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education deemed separating children in public schools based on race unconstitutional.
But racial divides still exist in Ohio classrooms today, according to researchers from Stanford and UCLA who analyzed data from schools across the U.S.
A recent report from the Segregation Tracking Project and education advocacy group Brown’s Promise finds Ohio’s public schools are the fifth most racially segregated in the U.S. — behind New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Those racial divides lead to worse outcomes for Black students, said Ann Owens, UCLA professor of sociology and one of the founders of the tracking project.
“When school districts have higher levels of segregation, there are larger achievement gaps between white and Black students or poor and non-poor students,” Owens said.
Contrary to popular belief, Owens said some of the most segregated states in the U.S. are not in the South, where segregation was legal prior to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954.
“Instead, we see high levels of school segregation in a lot of other states:; Midwestern, Northeastern states,” she said.
Why the problem persists today
In the modern world, segregation doesn’t look like schools explicitly banning students of a particular race from attending. Instead, Owens said it’s often an extension of residential segregation.
In many cases, where people live determines or influences where their children go to school. If a residential area is highly segregated, Owens said its school districts are likely to be as well.
“A lot of the states that have high levels of racial segregation have a lot of different school districts and those lines end up separating children across those district lines before they even choose a specific school to enroll in,” she said.
Ohio has 611 public school school districts across its 88 counties.
Education policy plays a role as well. Owens said the expansion of charter schools in many places leads to higher levels of racial segregation.
“When people have more school choice, they aren't necessarily choosing the most integrated option for their children,” Owens said.
Recommendations for states
Studies from the ‘60s and ‘70s showed that Black children who attended segregated schools had worse educational outcomes than their white counterparts. On the flip side, desegregation has been linked to positive life outcomes, such as higher wages and better health.
“Scholarship shows that there's huge benefits to African American children if they were able to attend those integrated schools: high school graduation, future family formation, even the life chances of their children and grandchildren,” Owens said.
Owens said states can – and should – step in to solve the issue.
“Especially in Ohio, a very high degree of segregation is happening between districts. It does point to the need for the state to get involved,” she said. “Any given district can really only set policy or control what's happening within its own boundaries.”
She said the state should consider redrawing district lines to encourage integration — or develop plans that allow students who live in certain areas to attend schools in other districts.
It’s not just a matter of education policy, either. Owens suggests Ohio explore avenues for reducing economic and housing inequalities that perpetuate residential segregation.
