Redrawing the Lines that Divide Our Students: Data and Tools for Better, Fairer School District Boundaries

Too often, school district boundaries are drawn along existing neighborhood fault lines, outlining unequal tax bases and segregated communities. But the right boundaries, drawn to encompass more integrated student populations and more equal tax bases, could transform our public-school systems. Redrawing the Lines, a new report from New America’s Education Funding Equity Initiative, uses machine learning methods to simulate better district boundaries, state by state, and shows the potential impact on students’ access to fair funding in diverse school districts.

Purposeful redistricting is also a timely tool for dealing with current dangers to education funding. State budgets are threatened by cuts to major federal funding streams, and indirectly, by tariffs and draconian immigration policies that are destabilizing the economy. But cuts to state education funding could have dire consequences, especially for the highest-need students. Purposeful redistricting can make school districts more financially stable and make high-need student populations less vulnerable when cuts do come.

Join us on Tuesday, January 13 at 1pm ET for a webinar presenting our findings, hear from a school system leader about policy lessons learned from his experience leading redistricting efforts in Michigan, and get a chance to explore our interactive data and mapping tool for yourself!