‘Systematically excluded’: How public schools still segregate based on zip codes

Seventy years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that public schools couldn’t segregate students based on race.

But public schools still segregate students – they’re just more subtle about it.

Available to All’s new report, “The Broken Promise of Brown v. Board of Ed,” explains how public schools openly discriminate against certain groups without breaking a single law.

“The brutal truth is this,” the report reads. “In 2024, Linda Brown wouldn’t be turned away from a coveted public school because of her race, but it’s likely she would still be turned away.

“There’s this systemic pressure to sort of stack your school with kids who are easier to educate,” a former school administrator anonymously told Available to All. “This isn’t a charter school thing, it’s not a traditional public school thing; it’s not a magnet school thing, it’s a public education thing.”  

How do such policies pass muster?  

Public school discrimination goes unchallenged primarily because of weak legal protections.  

Available to All notes the Fourteenth Amendment – and other anti-discrimination measures – protect groups based on race, religion, etc., but not their home address or income level.  

“Geographic discrimination” is baked into public education in the form of school zones and districts. 

“All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow or require school assignment to be based on the student’s residential address,” the report explains, “[which] means that certain groups of at-risk children are vulnerable to being systematically excluded from the best public schools.”  

These children are typically homeless, migrant, in foster care or from a military family, middle or low-income, or children with disabilities.  

Even in states with open enrollment policies, families aren’t guaranteed a fair shot.  

Parents can be forced to get the approval of their zoned district before enrolling outside it or be required to pay tuition. 

So what can be done to ensure public schools are truly available to all?  

First, the U.S. should codify the right of every student to seek admission at any public school, not just to participate in the public school system.  

This should include requiring public schools to give a reason for denying a student’s application and an appeal process for families who feel mistreated. 

Available to All also argues public funding should follow the student across district boundaries – negating the need to charge tuition. 

Additionally, districts should do a better job collecting and reporting their admissions and enrollment data. 

Policymakers can help as well by moving education away from the address-based system.  

Specific measures could include decriminalizing address sharing or reserving a percentage of seats for students living outside the school zone or district.