A federal district court judge in Missouri has blocked implementation of the Biden administration鈥檚 new Title IX rule in six additional states 鈥� Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The , ordered late Wednesday, brings to 21 the total number of states where the U.S. Department of Education can鈥檛 enforce the rule on Aug. 1.

Judge Rodney W. Sippel, a Clinton nominee, said the plaintiffs have a 鈥渇air chance鈥� of demonstrating that the department 鈥渆xceeded its statutory authority鈥� by using the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County to expand Title IX protections to LGBTQ students. 

Ravina Nath, a recent graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, originally included Rice University in Houston on her short list of colleges to attend this fall. With an interest in neuroscience, she was drawn to its top-ranked biomedical engineering program. 

That was before Texas became one of to sue the U.S. Department of Education  over its new Title IX rule. The regulation extends protections against discrimination and harassment to LGBTQ students and requires prompt investigations into students鈥� complaints.

Instead, she鈥檒l attend Barnard College in New York City.

鈥淚 need to be in a place where I would feel like my school supported me,鈥� said Nath, who became a in high school. At Rice, some students to how officials handled complaints of sexual misconduct. And she ruled out the University of Georgia, a 鈥減otential safety school,鈥� because it to make data on such investigations public. Several of her friends made similar calculations when narrowing down school choices. 

鈥淢y friends who are survivors and who are LGBTQ+ students applied to schools on the West Coast or the Northeast,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don’t think any of my friends applied to school in .鈥�

With the new rule set to go into effect Aug. 1 鈥� just seven days away 鈥� a flurry of lawsuits has once again turned the map of the United States into a familiar patchwork of red and blue.

District courts have blocked the regulation in 15 Republican-led states. In the most recent development, the on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow all but related to gender identity issues to go into effect in 10 of those states after two appellate courts denied earlier requests. 

Complicating the legal math further, in an earlier action, a federal judge in Kansas the rule just at serving children of current and future members of the conservative Moms for Liberty and students involved in , another advocacy organization opposed to trans girls competing on teams consistent with their gender identity. Moms for Liberty sees the ruling as an expansion opportunity: On Tuesday, the group tied to Title IX.

With the legal landscape changing daily, some experts think the Education Department should take a step back and delay the rule.

鈥淔or schools, universities and students, it’ll calm things down,鈥� said Sandra Hodgin, who runs a Title IX consulting firm in Los Angeles. 鈥淲hat are we talking about, 75% of the country not implementing Title IX and only 25% of the country implementing it?鈥�

A spokesperson said the department has no plans to skirt the Aug. 1 deadline. On Tuesday, it sent schools a list of 鈥溾�� and a on how to draft policies to comply.   

For now, the Supreme Court is considering whether to lift the temporary pause on the rule in the affected states.

The far larger question is what the justices might decide if and when they consider the substance of the rule itself. In addition to expanding protections to LGBTQ students, the new rule largely replaced one issued under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. That regulation narrowed the definition of sexual misconduct and required live hearings so male students could face their accusers. 

W. Scott Lewis, managing partner with TNG Consulting, which trains districts across the country on Title IX, has advised red states covered by an injunction, like Wyoming and Idaho, that they鈥檙e currently bound by the 2020 regulation.

But that could change quickly. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a race to the Supreme Court right now,鈥� he said.

鈥楤igger than sports鈥�

Some families with LGBTQ students aren鈥檛 waiting for the legal drama to run its course. They鈥檝e already to escape laws that bar trans students from using bathrooms or playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Several have moved to the Denver metro area, where Lewis lives, to attend schools in a state that is not challenging the rule.

鈥淲e have more than a handful of students at my kid鈥檚 high school who moved here from Wyoming, from Kansas, from Iowa,鈥� he said. 

Most of the controversy surrounding Title IX focuses on trans students鈥� participation in sports, a part of the rule that the U.S. Department of Education has delayed addressing until after the election. But in Lewis鈥檚 estimation, that issue is 鈥渂igger than sports.鈥� 

鈥淚f I’m in a state that won’t let me compete, I’m probably not in a state that’s very friendly to LGBTQ students on the whole,鈥� he said. 鈥淚’m far more likely to just move on.鈥�

In blue states set to implement the new rule, many conservative parents say their children鈥檚 rights are also at stake. 

They鈥檙e concerned students would be disciplined for not using LGBTQ kids鈥� preferred pronouns, forced to censor their speech or share bathrooms and locker rooms with trans students.

Hillary Hickland, a mother of four in central Texas, moved her children out of the Belton Independent School District partly because she felt there was too much emphasis on students鈥� gender identity. Her sixth grade daughter told her that teachers encouraged a friend to identify as a boy and use a boy鈥檚 name without the parents鈥� knowledge. 

鈥淒on’t do it behind the backs of the parents. That’s a huge violation of trust,鈥� she said. As a Republican running for the Texas House, she鈥檚 concerned about sexual orientation and gender identity becoming part of Title IX. 鈥淲e have the federal government dictating what goes on in our local public schools. It really undermines the neighborhood school and that culture that we’re trying to preserve.鈥�

鈥楴ine months behind鈥�

Lewis predicts the Supreme Court will eventually follow its precedent in , which said that at least in the workplace, LGBTQ employees are protected from discrimination. The Biden administration鈥檚 new rule rests on that decision.

, who wrote that majority opinion, 鈥渃an鈥檛 undo Bostock. He said sex means LGBTQ rights,鈥� Lewis said. In red states where the rule is on hold, districts 鈥渂etter be ready to implement very quickly because [they鈥檙e] going to be nine months behind everyone else.鈥�

If the court also decides to address sports participation 鈥� an expected part of the regulation the administration has yet to issue 鈥� Lewis said it鈥檚 possible the justices would rule similar to the way they handled , leaving it to the states to determine when trans students can compete on teams consistent with their gender identity. 

He called that a 鈥渘ightmare scenario鈥� because it would 鈥渃reate a world where athletes could compete in some states but not others.鈥� And at the college, NCAA level, 鈥渢here will be all sorts of questions that can’t be limited to state borders,鈥� said Joshua Dunn, executive director of the Institute of American Civics at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l have to address that, too.鈥�

Dunn also suggested the conservative court might not follow Bostock and could treat LGBTQ issues differently at school than they do in the workplace. He noted cases, like , where the court put limits on students鈥� First Amendment rights in schools 鈥渢hat it would never allow outside of K-12 education.鈥� 

Overturning 鈥楥hevron鈥�

Another recent Supreme Court decision, unrelated to education, adds an additional layer of uncertainty to the debate over Title IX鈥檚 future 鈥� one that could affect both sides. 

In , the court overturned what was known as 鈥淐hevron deference,鈥� which gave federal agencies broad authority to interpret ambiguous laws through guidance and regulations. The decision gives federal courts more power to explain the law when it鈥檚 unclear, and experts say, should end 鈥�.鈥�

The Obama administration first issued a in 2011 stating schools鈥� obligations to protect students from sexual violence and harassment, which the Trump administration largely reversed in 2020, followed by yet another 180 in the spring by Biden鈥檚 education department.

Republicans have Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that they will review the department鈥檚 rules since President Joe Biden took office,  including Title IX. GOP leaders call the rule 鈥渙verreach.鈥� 

The conservative Heritage Foundation鈥檚 , largely assumed to be a legislative blueprint for a second Trump term,would remove the terms sexual orientation and gender identity from 鈥渆very federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation and piece of legislation that exists.鈥�

But if Trump tries to reinstate the DeVos rule, Democrats could use Loper Bright to bring the same challenge, Lewis said.

鈥淚f you 鈥� say the department does not have the authority, then the 2020 regulations don鈥檛 count either,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was exactly the same procedure.鈥� 

A Texas federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s efforts to extend federal anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ students.

In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Reed O’Connor said the Biden administration lacked the authority to make the changes and accused it of pushing 鈥渁n agenda wholly divorced from the text, structure, and contemporary context of Title IX.鈥� Title IX is the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings.

鈥淭o allow [the Biden administration鈥檚] unlawful action to stand would be to functionally rewrite Title IX in a way that shockingly transforms American education and usurps a major question from Congress,鈥� wrote O鈥機onnor, a President George W. Bush appointee. 鈥淭hat is not how our democratic system functions.鈥�

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The Biden administration鈥檚 new guidelines, issued in April, expanded Title IX to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The changes would make schools and universities responsible for investigating a wider range of discrimination complaints. The rule changes came as several states, including Texas, have approved laws in recent years barring transgender student-athletes from participating in sports teams that correspond to their gender identity. The Biden administration hasn鈥檛 clarified whether the new guidance would apply in those cases.

Texas and several other states have the Biden administration over the new rule. . A month after the guidelines were released, Gov. called on school districts and universities .

鈥淭hreatening to withhold education funding by forcing states to accept 鈥榯ransgender鈥� policies that put women in danger was plainly illegal,鈥� said Texas Attorney General in a statement applauding Tuesday鈥檚 ruling. 鈥淭exas has prevailed on behalf of the entire Nation.鈥�

An U.S. Education Department said in a statement it stands by its revised guidelines.

鈥淓very student deserves the right to feel safe in school,” the statement reads.

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at .

鈥淭hese three strategies have one central goal 鈥� giving students more time and more support to succeed,鈥� U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Wednesday at a White House gathering to outline the president鈥檚 K-12 agenda. 鈥淲e’ll use all the tools at our disposal to advance these three pillars.鈥�

The event, featuring three governors and three state chiefs, highlighted successful efforts to spend pandemic relief funds on proven models, like to improve student attendance and the that now reaches 245 of the state鈥檚 600 districts. The administration aims to make sure more states and districts are implementing effective programs.

But some feel there was scant attention to the role of families in such efforts. 

鈥淎midst all the happy talk, there was no mention that far too many families seem unconvinced that they need to send students to school regularly, or to engage in additional learning opportunities,鈥� said Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The 鈥渟upply side鈥� of the equation 鈥� offering extra opportunities for learning 鈥� won鈥檛 make any difference if parents don鈥檛 see the value, he said.

Since the pandemic, researchers have documented a disconnect between parents and educators over pandemic learning loss. A University of Southern California study released in December documented what some have called an 鈥渦rgency gap,鈥� with parents expressing little alarm over long-term effects of school closures. 

Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, said there are other reasons why students aren鈥檛 in class everyday or aren鈥檛 taking advantage of tutoring opportunities. Schools, she said, aren鈥檛 giving students enough reasons to be there.

鈥淜ids are watching movies and listening to people read books on YouTube in the classroom,鈥� she said. And studies conducted in the wake of the pandemic show schools are requiring less effort from students. 鈥淕rade inflation will get you a C without even showing up.鈥� 

An analysis of federal data from Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University shows that roughly 14 million students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year, with significant increases among Latino students and those in suburban and rural districts. 

The administration hopes to reverse those trends by encouraging more states to regularly track chronic absenteeism and plans to publish examples from districts using strategies such as text messages and home visits. The White House urged more states to include chronic absenteeism as an indicator in their state accountability plans. Currently, 14 states don鈥檛, according to the department.

Officials also outlined ways to use the department鈥檚 existing accountability structure under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act to push research-based tutoring programs. A growing points to models that connect students with the same tutor at least three times a week.

The department plans to monitor whether states with tutoring programs ensure that low-performing schools use high-dosage models. And the White House said states should to districts where test scores still trail pre-COVID performance.

鈥淢y guess is they have seen states sign contracts for large-scale online homework help, which isn’t evidence-driven,鈥� said Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate, which last year awarded $1 million each to five states to support high-dosage tutoring.

To Phillip Lovell, associate executive director at All4Ed, a nonprofit advocacy group, Biden鈥檚 agenda signals a shift from using federal relief funds effectively to ensuring successful programs continue to reach students in the lowest-performing schools. While the department is offering states the for an extension, the pandemic aid officially expires later this year. 

鈥淭he reality is that it is going to take much longer than the amount of time states and districts have to spend [relief] dollars to recover academically,鈥� Lovell said. 

The it plans to run grant competitions supporting a long list of programs 鈥� not just tutoring, but also afterschool programs, and math and literacy coaching for teachers. But funding those programs is still up to Congress, which has not yet reached agreement on the budget for this fiscal year. 

Beyond monitoring districts鈥� use of Title I funds and promoting best practices, the administration was unclear about what other 鈥渢ools鈥� it might use to get districts to implement evidence-based programs. But some state leaders wish the department could do more to hold districts accountable. 

鈥淚 could use some help getting schools to really understand the value,鈥� said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishamsaid, joining the event remotely. She said 鈥渇ar too many鈥� districts in her state weren鈥檛 offering extended learning programs or high-dosage tutoring. 鈥淚t has been harder than it ought to be to get everybody on the same page dedicated to improved outcomes and well-being for New Mexico students.鈥�

WASHINGTON 鈥� U.S. House Democratic leaders on Wednesday called on Congress to pass President Joe Biden鈥檚 $16 billion supplemental child care funding request.

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WASHINGTON 鈥� U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday night failed to garner enough votes to block a new Biden administration rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans.

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First Lady Jill Biden, senior administration officials, school district heads and technology company executives will convene at the White House Monday to kick off a new cybersecurity defense initiative as schools increasingly fall victim to crippling ransomware attacks. 

The Education Department will launch a coordinating council to provide formal collaboration between government officials and district leaders to help schools strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities in the face of attacks that have closed campuses and exposed highly sensitive student and educator information online. The effort was announced by senior Biden administration officials on a press call Sunday evening. 

The council is being billed as the department鈥檚 鈥渒ey first step鈥� in a renewed focus on cybersecurity after multiple districts 鈥� including in Los Angeles and Minneapolis 鈥� were targeted by cyber gangs. 

At the White House event, federal officials will hear from school district leaders who navigated attacks, including Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who led America鈥檚 second-largest school system through a hack last September. That breach, an investigation by 社区黑料 revealed, exposed thousands of current and former students鈥� highly sensitive psychological evaluations on the dark web.

In addition to the first lady, others expected to attend the 4 p.m. White House summit include Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. 

Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, said the administration seeks to help school districts protect sensitive information about students, parents and educators. In March, a ransomware attack against Minneapolis Public Schools led to a data breach that exposed more than 189,000 files, including records related to sexual misconduct investigations, child abuse reports and district physical security information that鈥檚 typically kept private. 

Neuberger called the Minneapolis breach 鈥渁 particularly vicious example,鈥� citing the disclosure of closely held school security information, which was first revealed in an investigation by 社区黑料. 

Teams of federal cybersecurity experts will visit schools and help them create incident response plans, said Neuberger, adding that districts 鈥� particularly small ones 鈥� often lack the money and resources to adequately prepare for attacks. 

Schools are now the single leading target for hackers, outpacing health care, technology, financial services and manufacturing industries, according to a global survey of IT professionals released last month by the British cybersecurity company Sophos.

Cindy Marten, the deputy secretary of education, said that government officials and school leaders must make school cybersecurity a priority at the same level as physical infrastructure. She said she experienced firsthand how districts and the federal government can work together to mitigate the harm from attacks. Carvalho reached out to the Education Department after the Los Angeles district was hacked, Marten said, making clear the importance of partnerships.

It can take as long as nine months for districts to recover from cyberattacks, , and can cost them as much as $1 million to respond. 

Several technology companies have also committed to offer schools 鈥渇ree and low-cost resources.鈥� Amazon Web Services pledged to provide $20 million for a K-12 cyber grant program, free security training and incident response help. Meanwhile, will offer free cybersecurity tools to small districts with 2,500 or fewer students. 

Other federal commitments announced Monday include a guide from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Guard Bureau to help schools report cybersecurity incidents and tap into federal cyber defense expertise. 

Last month, the Federal Communications Commission proposed a $200 million grant program to help districts bolster cybersecurity. 

The Texas attorney general鈥檚 office filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Biden administration over its interpretation of Title IX 鈥� which was expanded two years ago to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity 鈥� arguing that noncompliance puts Texas schools at risk of losing federal funding.

This lawsuit highlights an existing rift between Texas legislation and the 51-year-old federal civil rights law.

In 2021, the Biden administration said that Title IX, which protects people from sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities, also applies to LGBTQ students.

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That same year, the Texas Legislature passed a law that bans transgender children in K-12 public schools from playing on sports teams that are aligned with their gender.

State law prohibits schools from following the Biden administration鈥檚 interpretation of Title IX, which the attorney general鈥檚 office said could put districts at risk of losing federal funding. During this year鈥檚 legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed , which expanded the existing restriction on transgender students to include athletics at the . And on Wednesday, Gov. announced he would sign what he鈥檚 calling the 鈥淪ave Women鈥檚 Sports Bill鈥� this week.

鈥淭exas is challenging this blatant attempt to misuse federal regulatory power to force K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in our state to accept and implement 鈥榯ransgender鈥� ideology 鈥� in violation of state law 鈥� by misusing the Title IX statute to threaten the withholding of federal education funds,鈥� said a statement from the attorney general鈥檚 office announcing the lawsuit.

鈥淭he Administration鈥檚 unlawful guidance could put at risk over $6 billion in federal funding that supports Texas K-12 and higher education institutions.鈥�

The lawsuit was filed by , who is serving as the interim attorney general. was suspended and faces an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate later this summer. Paxton had previously been critical of Biden鈥檚 expanded Title IX regulations.

In the 2020 case , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination on the basis of sex, applies to gay and transgender workers as well.

Subsequently, the Biden administration updated the Title IX regulations to comply with the Bostock ruling by prohibiting discrimination in educational activities and programs on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

In April, the Biden administration proposed an amendment that would prohibit blanket bans barring transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The amendment applies to K-12 schools, as well as universities.

鈥淭rans kids deserve to be respected in schools. Kids having their pronouns respected is a basic human right that cis people take for granted. Does the AG really want to tell Texas children that some kids deserve their teacher鈥檚 respect and others do not?鈥� Johnathan Gooch, communications director for the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Texas, said in a statement to The Texas Tribune.

鈥淲hen the Supreme Court ruled that trans rights are part of Title VII protections, they rightly saw that trans and gender expansive people are protected under federal civil rights laws,鈥� he said.

The attorney general鈥檚 announcement noted that this was Texas鈥檚 50th lawsuit against the Biden administration.

Disclosure: Equality Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

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Public charter schools may have lost some of the luster they enjoyed with centrist Democrats in Washington, D.C., a decade or two ago, but a top Biden administration education official this week sought to reassure the sector that it enjoys broad support on both sides of the aisle.

鈥淚 do not believe that the bottom has fallen out from under the bipartisan coalition for public charter schools,鈥� said Roberto Rodriguez, assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development at the U.S. Department of Education. 鈥淚 think if that were the case, you would see the funding completely deteriorating from this program. And in fact, you’re not seeing that.鈥�

The Biden administration has faced harsh criticism for its stance on its $440 million , a key federal grant that more than half of charter schools rely upon. This comes as centrist Democrats, once the sector鈥檚 biggest backers, have sought political support from teachers鈥� unions, which for decades have forcefully opposed charters.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden admitted, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a charter school fan.鈥�

But on Wednesday during a panel discussion at Washington, D.C.鈥檚 Brookings Institution, Rodriguez adopted a softer posture.

鈥淲e support high-quality public schools for all kids, including high-quality public charter schools,鈥� he told Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Doug Harris, the panel鈥檚 moderator. 鈥淥ur budget stands behind that. The work we’re doing stands behind that. The rulemaking that we’ve proposed is not an effort to tear down the charter school sector. In fact, it is an effort to further promote that objective.鈥�

But the administration has warned that more than one in seven charter schools funded by the grant either never opened or shut down before their grant period ended, in effect wasting an in taxpayer funding. In response, last year it proposed new regulations that critics said amounted to a new 鈥渨ar鈥� on charter schools.

The originally proposed rule for applicants required them to prove their schools met 鈥渦nmet demand鈥� in existing public schools 鈥� a requirement that charter advocates said ignored a bigger problem in district schools: poor quality.

The department also said applicants had to collaborate with 鈥渁t least one traditional public school or traditional school district,鈥� in effect giving districts a veto over their plans, according to charter advocates.

A third requirement said charter schools had to show they wouldn鈥檛 worsen district desegregation efforts or increase racial or socio-economic segregation or isolation in schools.

Taken together, , the draft requirements were 鈥渢ailor-made to ensure that the most successful charter schools won鈥檛 be replicated or expanded.鈥�

The education department received 26,550 comments on the proposed regulations, andangry charter school parents the White House in May to protest Biden鈥檚 stance on funding regulations.

eventually admitted that the final rules, issued in August, were less harmful but 鈥渘ot without impact鈥� on future growth of the sector. Among the concerns: a shortened window for submitting applications.

Two groups , saying, among other things, that the department lacked authority to impose new criteria on the grants, which Congress approved as part of a massive spending bill in December. It level-funded the charter grant for the . 

Harris, who has long studied the sector, noted that recent campaign rhetoric 鈥渉as been different from what the actions have been in the administration,鈥� with more public-facing skepticism from lawmakers about charters than 鈥渨hat’s happening in the nuts and bolts of committee rooms.鈥� He asked the panel if they see the coalition for charters 鈥渇racturing鈥� on the ground, especially among centrist Democrats.

Shavar Jeffries, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, which trains educators for the network鈥檚 280 schools, observed that even in the movement鈥檚 鈥渉alcyon heydays,鈥� charters were simultaneously 鈥渃ontentious among a variety of different constituencies鈥� and the beneficiaries of significant bipartisan support. That continues today, he said.

鈥淚 do think there’s a kind of false idea [that] people are moving away from the issue in ways that [are] maybe inconsistent with what we’ve seen in the past,鈥� he said.

But Jeffries said opponents of the Biden regulations had a point about not wanting to collaborate with districts, since some district officials are 鈥渘ot interested in the practices we’re trying to share.鈥� He added, 鈥淵ou can take a horse to water, but you can’t take it much further than that [if] people aren’t interested.鈥�

In a few instances, Jeffries said, opponents 鈥渁re actually acting aggressively to undermine the capacity for public charter schools to exist.鈥� He recalled local superintendents who were not only opposed to KIPP practices, but 鈥渟adly, in some instances鈥idn’t even want us to be here. So the idea that we’re going to obtain their support is obviously not going to happen.鈥�

He also said the requirement that charter schools not worsen segregation can, in some cases, amount to a requirement that schools serving Black and Latino students essentially find white students in the suburbs.

Charter schools serve more than 3 million students, recent research shows, about two-thirds of them Black or Hispanic and most low-income. 

The Brookings panel also included from another panelist, Katrina Bulkley of Montclair State University, who led a team that found charter school authorizers are a key but little-studied aspect of the charter school world.

While some authorizers say equity is key to their mission, they found, others focus on choice or 鈥渕arket logic.鈥� And they found that authorizers that prioritized equity received applications from schools that also prioritized equity. 鈥淭his really suggests to us that those beliefs and the practices of authorizers are shaping what applicants are submitting,鈥� Bulkley said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect funding amount for the federal Charter Schools Program.

The publication of the report from The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, was timed to mark the 68th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Brown v. Board of Education and demonstrates the degree to which the nation鈥檚 schools remain segregated by race long after it was legally outlawed. 

鈥楶ernicious鈥� segregation between school districts, not within them, is the primary reason for racial isolation in 280 out of the 403 metro areas, the report said. That is particularly true in the Northeast and Midwest, where counties often have multiple small school districts. Within-district segregation is greater in the South, which tends to have larger, countywide districts.

鈥淭he way that district lines are drawn has a huge impact on segregation and the resources that students in segregated districts have,鈥� said lead author Halley Potter, a senior fellow at the progressive think tank.

Enrollment losses in urban public schools, exacerbated by the pandemic when many students left for private and charter schools, have likely contributed to further racial isolation in some communities, Potter said. But she chalked up the chief causes of segregation to migration, immigration and population growth. School attendance policies that keep students from enrolling in neighboring districts and white residents鈥� push to secede from majority minority districts are also contributing factors.

The Biden administration has proposed policies to address the issues, including a $100 million to support racial and socioeconomic diversity. Potter said states also have 鈥渃arrots and sticks鈥� to achieve more integrated schools.

For example, states can allow students to transfer across district lines. They also can design magnet schools to draw students from multiple districts. And they can require districts to take diversity into account when making boundary changes 鈥� a practice that only Arkansas and California have implemented.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of work and coordination to get individual districts to come up with this on their own,鈥� she said, adding that if more states prevented secessions and actively encouraged district mergers that promote integration, 鈥渢hat could be a powerful tool for tackling interdistrict segregation.鈥�

The report complements recent research from Bellwether Education Partners that focused on 鈥渂order barriers鈥� 鈥� district boundaries that keep low-income families from enrolling their children in higher-quality schools.

The Foundation鈥檚 report features a first-of-its-kind interactive 鈥� developed by Ann Owens of the University of Southern California and Sean Reardon from Stanford University 鈥� that allows users to isolate metro areas and different types of segregation. The team developed a measure that ranges from 0, which means no segregation, to 1, which indicates students attend schools with no students from other races. 

Here are four takeaways from the data:

1 Milwaukee leads the pack

Overall, Black-white segregation is especially pronounced in 39 鈥� or about 10% 鈥� of the nation鈥檚 403 metro regions, including Milwaukee (.73), Newark (.71), Chicago (.70), Detroit (.70) and New York (.69). 

Hispanic-white segregation is greatest in Philadelphia and Reading, Pennsylvania, as well as Boston, Memphis and Los Angeles.

2 Economic segregation affects Black students the most

Economic segregation is also extreme in many metro areas, particularly Newark, Bridgeport, Milwaukee and Chicago, and affects Black students more than other groups. The average Black student attends a school where the rate of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals is 16 percentage points higher than in the average white student鈥檚 school in the same metro region.

3 Private schools are not a leading factor

Private school enrollment is not a driving force behind segregation overall. But there are some areas where it鈥檚 a bigger factor, including Sumter, South Carolina, Napa, California, and the New York-Jersey City-White Plains area of New York and New Jersey. 

4 Research influenced White House on charters

Potter鈥檚 past influenced the Biden administration鈥檚 controversial proposal to revamp the federal Charter Schools Program. The plan would discourage the creation and expansion of charter schools in districts that have voluntary integration programs. 

The new report, however, shows that charter schools account for just 6% of segregation by income and 4% of white-nonwhite segregation across metro areas.