U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to Congress: Make School Funding More Equitable

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is urging Congress to take “bold action” to address inequitable funding in the country’s public school system, publishing Thursday a sweeping report examining how K-12 funding negatively impacts the educational opportunities of low-income students and students of color.“Although the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that public education is a right that should be available to all on equal terms, the longstanding and persistent reality is that vast funding inequities in our state public education systems render the education available to millions of American public school students profoundly unequal,” the report states. Among other things, the committee’s report recommends Congress incentivize states to adopt more-equitable school finance systems, ensure adequate funding for students with disabilities and to invest more in facilities maintenance.