WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Friday released the following statement on the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education:

 “Attending a racially and economically diverse school benefits all students and better prepares them to succeed as adults. But 70 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, American public schools are more segregated than they have been in generations. Black and Latino students and those in low-income communities often end up in highly segregated schools with far fewer resources than schools that predominantly serve white students. We shouldn’t be spending $7,000 more on the education of a student in Greenwich than we are on the education of a student in Bridgeport, and neither should students expect to go to schools without classmates from the diversity of backgrounds they'll experience as adults in their own communities. We have to do more to make the promise of Brown v. Board of Education a reality, and that’s why I’ve introduced two pieces of legislation to push community-driven strategies to improve school diversity.”

 Murphy’s Strength in Diversity Act would promote diversity in schools through a federal grant program to support voluntary, community-driven strategies and MAGNET Act would  improve and expand upon the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grant, which has been a key driver for the growth of magnet schools.

###