Dividing Lines: School District Borders in the United States

In June, The Supreme Court decided Texas v. Inclusive Communities Project, affirming that no government policy, even one without discriminatory intent, may create “artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers” for minority individuals and families seeking quality housing in a good neighborhood. However, one kind of artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barrier continues to separate families—often poor and minority families—from places of opportunity: school-district boundaries. This report and coordinating maps detail these disparities.