Connection Between Residential and School Segregation

WHEREAS, There is a dire need for a better understanding of the relationship between residential and school segregation and a deep need to put an end to the disproportionate effects of such segregation on Black communities and other communities of color; and

WHEREAS, Housing and education in the United States have long been inextricably linked with the progress or regress of residential and school segregation being sequentially related throughout history; and

WHEREAS, Segregationist school practices endured for years before the Supreme Court unanimously found state-sanctioned school segregation to be unconstitutional in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education Topeka in 1954; and

WHEREAS, Likewise, in 1968, racially exclusive deeds and discriminatory zoning, among other practices, were supposedly outlawed when Congress passed the Fair Housing Act although the Act was criticized as insufficient because, by the time it was passed, homes were no longer as affordable as they were when White Americans first bought into exclusive suburbs and gained the equity and wealth that followed; and

WHEREAS, Widespread residential and school segregation have continued despite the Brown decision and the Fair Housing Act through massive resistance efforts at the state and federal levels, including, but not limited to, the Southern Manifesto, and segregationist advocacy groups; and

WHEREAS, Today many schools and neighborhoods remain "stubbornly segregated along racial and ethnic lines" with more than 80% of large metropolitan areas in the United States being more segregated in 2019 than in 1990 and roughly 18.5 million kindergarten through twelfth grade public school students being enrolled in predominately (75% or more) same-race or same- ethnicity schools, with 14% of students attending schools where 90% of the student population was of a single race or ethnicity between 2020-2021; and

WHEREAS, Residential segregation directs and substantially reflects how schools are financed and resourced with local and state revenues that fund each school often tied to the residential property value in each school's district; and

WHEREAS, The higher the school's property value, the better resources the school receives, with studies showing that the United States spends $293 less per year per-student on schools with a higher percentage of non-white students and that an increase of 10% in non-white students in schools is associated with a decrease in spending of $75 per student; and

WHEREAS, The segregation of schools ultimately reinforces residential segregation and hinders residential mobility and increases an exposure to crime for many Black and other students of color, potentially impacting child development and learning opportunities for students.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP will advocate for improved and more frequent data collection regarding the symbiotic relationship between residential segregation and school segregation.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP will request the U.S. Department of Education to provide higher funding to economically impacted schools and support federal and state legislation that focuses on eradicating the residential and school segregation that has a disproportionate effect on Black students.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP will disseminate this Resolution to state and federal legislators, the U.S. Department of Education, and local school boards.