NEPC Review: 'Redrawing the Lines: How Purposeful School System Redistricting Can Increase Funding Fairness and Decrease Segregation' (New America, September 2025)
Saved in:
| Title: | NEPC Review: 'Redrawing the Lines: How Purposeful School System Redistricting Can Increase Funding Fairness and Decrease Segregation' (New America, September 2025) |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Christopher Cleveland, Joshua Almes, University of Colorado at Boulder, National Education Policy Center (NEPC) |
| Source: | National Education Policy Center. 2026. |
| Availability: | National Education Policy Center. School of Education 249 UCB University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Tel: 303-735-5290; e-mail: nepc@colorado.edu; Web site: http://nepc.colorado.edu |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice |
| Document Type: | Reports - Evaluative Opinion Papers |
| Descriptors: | School Districts, School District Reorganization, Educational Finance, Educational Equity (Finance), Desegregation Methods, Taxes, Equal Education, Models |
| Abstract: | A New America report argues that states should improve educational equity by redrawing school district boundaries to reduce within-state fiscal and demographic disparities. The report details three redistricting methods: (1) a "blank-slate" approach that creates new districts from Census tracts, (2) a county-aligned approach that uses county boundaries as district boundaries, and (3) targeted mergers of existing districts. It models each of these approaches and compares them to current district maps. Overall, the report finds that across districts, all three hypothetical models increase the equality of access to local property tax revenue, and all three improve racial and economic integration. Blank-slate redistricting leads to the most significant improvements. Although this review identifies some methodological weaknesses, the report still offers policymakers a framework for a preliminary discussion of how district boundaries shape inequities and, therefore, how redistricting may be a meaningful policy tool for alleviating them. More research and analysis, notably (a) including additional factors that complicate redistricting and (b) comparing redistricting with other approaches to reducing inequities, would strengthen the conversation this report initiates. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED681176 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | A New America report argues that states should improve educational equity by redrawing school district boundaries to reduce within-state fiscal and demographic disparities. The report details three redistricting methods: (1) a "blank-slate" approach that creates new districts from Census tracts, (2) a county-aligned approach that uses county boundaries as district boundaries, and (3) targeted mergers of existing districts. It models each of these approaches and compares them to current district maps. Overall, the report finds that across districts, all three hypothetical models increase the equality of access to local property tax revenue, and all three improve racial and economic integration. Blank-slate redistricting leads to the most significant improvements. Although this review identifies some methodological weaknesses, the report still offers policymakers a framework for a preliminary discussion of how district boundaries shape inequities and, therefore, how redistricting may be a meaningful policy tool for alleviating them. More research and analysis, notably (a) including additional factors that complicate redistricting and (b) comparing redistricting with other approaches to reducing inequities, would strengthen the conversation this report initiates. |
|---|
