Overcoming Educational Redlining and Strict Residency Restrictions in Missouri’s Public Schools

Missouri law is locking middle and low-income students out of the state’s best public schools. The state is home to one of the nation’s most restrictive “residential assignment” policies, fueling extreme disparities in academic opportunities along racial and economic lines.

Our new report takes a deep dive into how entrenched district lines and exclusionary school boundaries–rooted in racist redlining practices from the 1930s–are breaking the promise of public schools being truly available to all students.

Common-sense reforms can help Missouri fulfill the promise of its public schools and fulfill its motto: Salus populi suprema lex esto, which means “The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law.”

Read or download the executive summary below. Or download the full report here.

Full Report

Take a closer look at school boundaries in Missouri and across the country that mirror redlining maps from the 1930s, here.