Congresswoman Barbara Lee Applauds the Passage of the Strength in Diversity Act of 2020
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement on the passage of the historic Strength in Diversity Act of 2020:
“66 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, school segregation has reached its highest levels since the 1960’s.
“It has been shown that students attending diverse schools perform better academically because of equal access to resources as white students. School districts with enrollments of predominantly Black, Brown, and Latinx children receive $23 billion less in funding than mostly white school districts.
“This bill takes action where Secretary DeVos and the administration have failed to act to make sure that all of our children, no matter what color they are, get the same opportunities to get an education and pursue their dreams.
“As a member of the education funding subcommittee, I applaud the passage of the Strength in Diversity Act, which will invest urgently needed funding for school equity and diversity initiatives. The bill establishes a grant program to provide federal funding at the local level to increase diversity in schools. Grants could fund a range of proposals, including studying segregation, evaluating current policies, and developing evidence-based plans to address socioeconomic and racial disparities.”
For more information about the bill, click here.