Mitigating<i>Milliken</i>? School District Boundary Lines and Desegregation Policy in Four Southern Metropolitan Areas, 1990–2010

Abstract

Over the past half century, law and policy have helped cement tremendous inequities into the structure of our cities. District boundary lines separating multiple, unequal school systems within a single metropolitan (metro) area play a central role in structuring racial and economic isolation. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, this study explores how patterns of school segregation are linked to desegregation policy and district boundary arrangements in four southern metro areas. Findings indicate that while city-suburban mergers create far more potential for meaningful school desegregation within a school system, simply eliminating district boundaries is not enough. Corresponding and well-designed school desegregation policy is necessary to achieve widespread integration of students. In a society growing more diverse even as its schools remain very separate, lessons from this study provide new insight into strategies that will help return our society to fulfilling the goals of Brown v. Board of Education.