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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, May 17, 2017 will be the 63rd anniversary of the
31954 landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v.
4Board of Education, which found that "separate educational
5facilities are inherently unequal" and banned separate public
6schools for black and white students; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Despite this landmark ruling, many schools and
8districts throughout the United States have been alleged to
9still be "separate" due, in part, to racially and economically
10isolated housing patterns in many areas; and
 
11    WHEREAS, According to a 2013 Economic Policy Institute
12report entitled "For Public Schools, Segregation Then,
13Segregation Since", "[t]oday, African American students are
14more isolated than they were 40 years ago, while most education
15policymakers and reformers have abandoned integration as a
16cause"; and
 
17    WHEREAS, A considerable body of research indicates that
18racial and economic diversity in schools is one of the few
19education reforms that is proven to improve the educational
20achievement and life opportunities of minority and low-income
21children systemically; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The best way to ensure that public educational
2resources are equitably distributed among all children is to
3allow all children access to the same resources in the same
4schools; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Diverse schools promote better educational
6outcomes and provide benefits for all students; research has
7confirmed that African-American and Hispanic students perform
8better on tests in schools that are diverse, while school
9diversity has no negative impact on the test scores of white
10students; in addition, studies have found that prolonged
11contact with racially diverse students may have significant
12effects on students' complex thinking, and a more diverse
13classroom environment encourages critical thinking in all
14students, as well as improves high school graduation and
15college matriculation rates for minority students at those
16schools; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Beyond educational benefits, diverse schools
18provide other societal advantages, including improving
19cross-racial understanding and reducing racial prejudice;
20diverse schools also improve the potential for reducing
21residential lack of diversity; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Diverse schools are linked to a host of positive
23learning outcomes for white students as well, including the

 

 

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1promotion of critical thinking and problem-solving skills and
2higher academic achievement; attending diverse schools is also
3linked to social and psychological advantages for white
4students, including more friendships across racial lines and
5higher levels of cultural competence, a critical advantage in
6the modern workplace and today's global economy; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Diverse schools are essential to prepare all
8children to live and work together in a nation in which
9African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Pacific
10Islanders, and other non-whites will collectively comprise the
11majority of the United States population by 2042; therefore, be
12it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
14HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15urge the Mayor of the City of Chicago to officially recognize
16that these practices are hurting the City and the future of our
17children and to recognize the importance and benefits of school
18diversity and to set it as a priority when making decisions
19regarding funding, transportation, admissions policies and
20practices, creation of new schools, school rezoning, and other
21pertinent decisions, and to commit to having a strategy in each
22district for overcoming impediments to school diversity; and be
23it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2delivered to the Mayor of the City of Chicago.