Separate Remains Unequal: Contemporary Segregation and Racial Disparities in School District Revenue

Abstract

Resource exposure was a key mechanism linking patterns of racial segregation and student outcomes during the Brown v. Board of Education era. Decades later, past progress on school desegregation may have stalled, raising concerns about resource equity and associated student outcomes. Are recent trends in segregation associated with racial disparities in district revenue? Drawing on national data from the School Funding Fairness Data System and the Common Core of Data, this study examines the association between contemporary patterns of segregation between districts within a state and racial disparities in school district revenue over time. We find that increases in racial segregation, net of racial socioeconomic segregation, and other racial differences between districts are associated with racial disparities in revenue.