Shameful segregation

Attorney General Xavier Becerra has completed a twoyear investigation into the Sausalito Marin City School District. The shocking results of his findings sound like something out of the South in the 1950s.

Not only did the school district’s leaders deliberately segregate the predominately white students of Sausalito from the predominately African American and Latino students of Marin City, but the desegregation plan it’s being forced to undertake now will be overseen by both the attorney general’s office and an independent monitor.

That’s how serious — and how damaging — this Marin County school district’s actions have been to its children, its community, and to state laws about equal protection.

“Depriving a child of a fair chance to learn is wicked, it’s warped, it’s morally bankrupt, and it’s corrupt,” Becerra said in a statement. “This announcement should be a call to action to districts around the state to follow through on their responsibilities under the law.”

The case against Sausalito Marin City, laid out in Becerra’s complaint, is obvious.

Aware that it already operated racially segregated schools, the district voted in 2013 to place a new K8 public school in majorityminority Marin City while simultaneously providing discretionary funding to a K8 public school in Sausalito, a wealthier, whiter city just 1 mile away.

The district voted to do this despite the overwhelming objections of the Marin City community and contrary recommendations from outside consultants.

Once it had created the new, segregated school, the district promptly slashed its programming — while maintaining stable funding for the Sausalito school.

This is textbook segregationist politics from an earlier era. But while this case is extreme, it’s also a grim reminder that racial segregation is a living issue that’s shared by many Bay Area school districts. It has real, damaging effects on our children’s futures, the cohesion of our communities, and the region’s growing inequality.

Becerra’s work to desegregate Sausalito Marin City is vital. But it should be the first — not the last — Bay Area school district to earn his attention on this matter.