| ver the span of three decades, many southern school districts were found to be operating racially separate school systems and were placed under court-supervised desegregation plans. While under these plans, districts were forced to remove all traces of their formerly segregated nature. Upon satisfactorily achieving the U.S. Supreme Court’s goal of one “unitary” system for all children, a district can be released from court supervision and can subsequently be considered to have received unitary status.;This study identifies how exiting a court ordered desegregation plan via the granting of unitary status affects racial imbalance and academic achievement. It finds significant evidence that the level of segregation will rise if unitary status is received. This effect is robust and appears to grow over time. Unitary status is also shown to have little effect on the achievement of the average student within each district. This result holds for both white and black students at the district level, suggesting that the end of court supervision may not lead to an increase in academic inequality.;Additional consideration is given to the motives behind the decision to seek unitary status. During the most active phase of the school desegregation era, the U.S. court system took control of student assignment away from districts found guilty of operating segregated school systems. This affected both large and small districts. However, as the courts retreated from active involvement, large districts were more frequently released than small ones. One explanation may be economies of scale. If the per-capita financial benefits of receiving unitary status are small, a large number of students are required to cover any non-trivial costs associated with seeking release from the court’s desegregation order. This study shows some revenue shifting may occur, saving local tax payers about... |
PDF Full Text Request