In 1957, the Little Rock Nine walked the steps of the city’s Central High School. They were the first African American students to enter through the doors, marking what should have been the end of school segregation.
Three years prior, the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were illegal in a decision in Brown v. The Board of Education. No longer ‘separate but equal’.
Sixty-five years later, in 2019, that segregation our country has worked so hard to remove, is still very prevalent in our school system.
Schenectady School District, a majority non-white school district, is shorted about $62 million every year
in funding, according to the Superintendent, Larry Springs. That number aligns with a $23 Billion gap between majority white and non-white school districts across the country.
When you hear those statistics, how can you not be angry? How are we still dealing with racial gaps in 2019? And the worst part, the children are the ones who suffer.
More than half the kids in the state are minorities. However, most are grouped into 55 of the state’s 700 districts. But, segregation of schools was supposed to end in 1954.
Those 55 districts are ten times as likely to get less than 70% of their aid, leading to a lack of resources in and out of the classroom. But, segregation of schools was supposed to end in 1954.
And students in those 55 districts are more likely to come from poverty, usually stemming from redlining. But, segregation of schools was supposed to end in 1954.
It seems almost criminal the state is able to get away with these funding differences.
Springs says it is, in fact, criminal. The school district is trying to overturn this disparity by filing a civil lawsuit. Why should these children continue to suffer a cycle of injustice, in a society politicians tout as ‘equal’ and ‘free’?
Students in Schenectady learn out of outdated and dilapidated textbooks. Yet, take a six minute drive down the road to Niskayuna high school and find every classroom has laptops.
“Red lining for years kept minority families in limited sections of inner cities and made it very hard for them to have properties, and impacts these districts today,” said Spring.
Segregation of schools did not end in 1954. After the decision of the Brown v. The Board of Education, the injustices have just become more difficult to see, as signs no longer hang on bus seats, at water fountains, or near bathroom entrances.
But Superintendents, like Larry Springs, cannot fix it on their own. It is up to us, to hold those in power accountable. It is up to us to create the change. And it is up to us, to make sure the current and future generation of children can move forward, so they no longer have to deal with the injustices of the past. Call your local lawmakers. Donate to your school district. Let’s honor the decision made 65 years ago. Let the brave steps taken by the Little Rock Nine not live in vain.
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