This isn't super related to the actual law, and it's more of an opinion, but I think that we have to use the outcome based theory. We can look directly back at history and pinpoint why the outcomes are differentiated. Going back to slavery, into Jim Crow, and even today, systemic racism is the cause of the different outcomes, and this should not be ignored.
One thing in this post only affirms my thinking. You point out that "school funding formulas [are] tied to property taxes." The school system in Detroit gets their funding through two main sources - property taxes and count days. From white flight forward, the property values in Detroit have plummeted (though we see some areas rising). Additionally, we saw continuous population deflation until recently. The education system is flawed in Detroit because of the systemic racism, redlining, and white flight that have plagued the city especially since the 1950s and 1960s.
During my undergrad at Wayne State University, I taught at a Detroit Public School working with first and second grade students in math and reading. I would come in four days a week and work one-on-one with the students who were struggling. However, it was rare that I saw the same student more than once every few weeks. Why? Because every single kid in the class was below the national average. It's not the students' fault, and it's not the teachers' fault. The classrooms are overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed. It was a completely different experience that I had growing up at private school. My parents worked their 9-5 jobs and came home, did my homework with me, and read me books before bed. But in talking to most of my students, they would go home to empty homes or houses where parents just did not have the bandwidth to help with the homework or reading. The parents' actions are not by choice, but by necessity. I guess this is a somewhat connection to Washington v. Davis, and just some perspective on why these tests are inherently unfair. Beyond my brief essay on education, this should extend to all facially neutral laws and policies. It just seems unfair from both an ethical and legal perspective to ignore the cause of the bad outcome and act like there's nothing we can do about it.
You’re right that ignoring the causes of unequal outcomes feels wrong. In employment and housing, that’s partly why Congress stepped in with statutes to let courts address disparate impact even when the Constitution won’t. But in education, there isn’t a comparable statute. Title VI exists, but the Court has made it hard to bring disparate impact claims under it. So, schools are mostly stuck with the constitutional intent standard, which makes it much harder to reach the structural issues you’re describing.
This isn't super related to the actual law, and it's more of an opinion, but I think that we have to use the outcome based theory. We can look directly back at history and pinpoint why the outcomes are differentiated. Going back to slavery, into Jim Crow, and even today, systemic racism is the cause of the different outcomes, and this should not be ignored.
One thing in this post only affirms my thinking. You point out that "school funding formulas [are] tied to property taxes." The school system in Detroit gets their funding through two main sources - property taxes and count days. From white flight forward, the property values in Detroit have plummeted (though we see some areas rising). Additionally, we saw continuous population deflation until recently. The education system is flawed in Detroit because of the systemic racism, redlining, and white flight that have plagued the city especially since the 1950s and 1960s.
During my undergrad at Wayne State University, I taught at a Detroit Public School working with first and second grade students in math and reading. I would come in four days a week and work one-on-one with the students who were struggling. However, it was rare that I saw the same student more than once every few weeks. Why? Because every single kid in the class was below the national average. It's not the students' fault, and it's not the teachers' fault. The classrooms are overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed. It was a completely different experience that I had growing up at private school. My parents worked their 9-5 jobs and came home, did my homework with me, and read me books before bed. But in talking to most of my students, they would go home to empty homes or houses where parents just did not have the bandwidth to help with the homework or reading. The parents' actions are not by choice, but by necessity. I guess this is a somewhat connection to Washington v. Davis, and just some perspective on why these tests are inherently unfair. Beyond my brief essay on education, this should extend to all facially neutral laws and policies. It just seems unfair from both an ethical and legal perspective to ignore the cause of the bad outcome and act like there's nothing we can do about it.
You’re right that ignoring the causes of unequal outcomes feels wrong. In employment and housing, that’s partly why Congress stepped in with statutes to let courts address disparate impact even when the Constitution won’t. But in education, there isn’t a comparable statute. Title VI exists, but the Court has made it hard to bring disparate impact claims under it. So, schools are mostly stuck with the constitutional intent standard, which makes it much harder to reach the structural issues you’re describing.