Busing

Jonathan Lightfoot

Busing is the means by which public school systems across the United States have sought to achieve proportionate representation in student enrollment of disparate racial groups. Patterns of residential segregation in public school districts where policy required students to attend schools in their local area made achieving a diverse student body a challenge. Transporting K-12 students via school buses to schools outside of their neighborhood to satisfy court-ordered mandates became a source of great tension among various school communities. In addition, typical school funding formulas that depend upon local property taxes raise questions about who can benefit from school district resources. This entry looks at the origins of busing and resulting protests and assesses the outcome. The U.S. Supreme Court initiated the process of school desegregation with its 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that separate schools were inherently unequal. The cognate 1955 Brown II Brown ...

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