Majority Of US Adults Consider School Segregation Serious Problem - Poll

Most Americans consider school segregation a serious problems, with creation of so-called magnet schools the most popular proposed solution, a Gallup poll said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) Most Americans consider school segregation a serious problems, with creation of so-called magnet schools the most popular proposed solution, a Gallup poll said on Tuesday.

"A majority of Americans say that racial segregation in US public schools is a 'very' (21%) or 'moderately serious' (36%) problem," Gallup said in a press release. "A slim majority of whites (52%) consider school segregation a serious problem, but the view is even more widespread among US blacks (68%) and Hispanics (65%)."

The issue of racial segregation has been an ongoing challenge for US schools since the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that the concept of "separate but equal" was unconstitutional in the landmark Brown v. board of education ruling.

Of several proposals to remedy segregation, the creation of magnet schools was the most popular, with support from 79 percent of those surveyed. Magnet schools offer special instruction and programs not available elsewhere in an attempt to attract a diverse student body.

Busing, which requires school districts to bus a certain percentage of students to other districts to achieve racial balance, was least popular proposal.Fifty-five percent of those surveyed opposed the practice compared with 43 percent who approved.

A 1971 Supreme Court ruling launched a nationwide busing effort that succeeded in integrating schools but also touched off a long, polarizing battle that turned public opinion against busing in the decades that followed.