Educational inequality has existed in the Southeast Michigan area of the United States since the birth of institutional, urban schooling in the US. Inequality between lower and higher class districts have perpetuated divisions in educational opportunities and outcomes between Michigan communities, especially areas in and around Detroit, the state's largest city. According to a report by the Kerner Commission from 1967, "spending per pupil in Detroit suburbs was 27% greater than in the city and that spending since World War II had risen more in the suburbs than in the city. (Kerner Report 1968, 435)." More recently, the economic decline of Detroit culminating in the 2013 Detroit bankruptcy has aggravated the educational tensions.
Since it is more common for people of color to be part of the less-affluent communities with fewer educational resources, the phenomenon has also perpetuated opportunity differences between races. The Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954, which banned racial segregation in public schools, did not end this form of educational inequality. The gaps in educational inequality and acquirement negatively affect residents' development into adulthood, specifically when it comes to employment between whites and blacks. According to a study, "In 2014, employed adult black men in metropolitan Detroit earned 56% as much as their white counterparts. In 2014, employed African American women earned 75% as much as white women. Racial differences in education account for a share of the racial gap in earnings."
Background: The impact of Detroit's collapse
Previously home to the Ford Motor Industry, Detroit gained recognition as the country's pinnacle of a thriving domestic labor markets. In its peak, between 1900 and 1950, Detroit's population increased exponentially, encouraging healthy economy and overall quality of life. In current times, "Detroit ranks seventy-third in median income and dead last in the value of its owner-occupied houses. It is the only city in the nation where single parents head the majority of families. And Detroit is more segregated than any other major metropolitan area," according to the Michigan Historical Review. Being that Detroit was once the bustling capital, the hub of south-eastern Michigan economy, the fall of Detroit meant trouble for surrounding areas. Worsened economy meant compromised spending in school systems, especially those that were already less-funded in comparison to more affluent districts. Scholars explain that, "where people live impacts their access to opportunities. Moreover, the geographic distribution of opportunity is particularly important for children because it impacts their schooling experiences." Being that students in poorer communities were those of color, this increased the gap between educational opportunities for white and children of color in Michigan. Black students in particular were left behind when it came to their predominantly African American school. districts.Detroit’s schools, in the past, enrolled the majority of the state’s African American children. Those schools were viewed as so under-performing and poorly run that the state took them over in 1999. Then, in 2008, after many protested, the schools were returned to local control. Problems persisted, however, and in 2011 the state of Michigan took over again. The takeover did not improve achievement levels and generated new debts of about a half billion dollars. The state paid off those debts in 2016 and funded the creation of a new locally run school district (Gray 2016).Since 2016, Betsy DeVos proposed a solution which funded privately operated schools, making them more accessible to students rather than attending "failing" public schools; "State-equalized support for all students ended the situation in which funding for a student's instruction was directly linked to the tax base of the student's district." The plan encouraged more residents of color, and residents in general, to attend academically apt schools.