Review of Segregation and School Funding: How States Reinforce Inequality and What to Do About It, by M. Di Carlo & B. D. Baker
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14507/er.v33.4649Abstract
In this book, Matthew DiCarlo and Bruce Baker examine how racial and economic segregation in U.S. public schools is tied directly to the way schools are funded. The authors intersperse discussion of historical milestones toward equity and their marginal effectiveness with illustrative case studies of school districts in seven metropolitan areas. They also discuss some little-known history that underpins the persistent problem of inequitable education in the United States metropolitan areas. This well-reasoned and well-documented book is an important contribution to the larger, longstanding, and continuously evolving conversation about civil rights, educational equity, housing segregation, tax policy and public-school reform.
Author Biography
Elsie Szecsy, Arizona State University
Elsie Szecsy is emerita research professional at Arizona State University, where her research interests were on intersections among teaching, learning, and leadership, with institutional, organizational, and instructional arrangements in linguistically and culturally diverse education settings. She was involved in several documentation research projects in metro New York and metro Phoenix, Arizona, that aimed to improve Latino representation among high school and college graduates and among faculty and administrators in K-12 and higher education. Her research interests have since expanded to include humanities-based approaches to discover racial and other injustices in schools and other educational settings. Elsie holds an Ed.D. in educational administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.
References
Baker, B. D. (2018). Educational inequality and school finance: Why money matters for American students. Harvard Education Press.
Baker, B. D., DiCarlo, M., & Green, P. C. III. (2022). Segregation and school funding: How housing discrimination reproduces unequal inequality. Albert Shanker Institute. http://shankerinstitute.org/segfunding
Keough, T. (2023). In Levittown’s shadow: Poverty in America’s wealthiest postwar suburb. The University of Chicago Press.
Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974), https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/433/267/
Kellar, W. H. (1999). Make haste slowly: Moderates, conservatives, and school desegregation in Houston. Texas A&M Press.
Kelly, M. G. (2024). Dividing the public: School finance and the creation of structural inequity. Cornell University Press.
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodríguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973), https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/411/1/
Steffes, T. L. (2024). Structuring inequality: How schooling, housing, and tax policies shaped metropolitan development and education. The University of Chicago Press.
Stone, D. (2012). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making (3rd ed.). W. W. Norton and Company.
[Book reviewed] Di Carlo, M., & Baker, B. D. (2026). Segregation and school funding: How states reinforce inequality and what to do about it. Harvard Education Press.
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