Was Busing the Problem

On 15 April 2002, the Dayton Board of Education, the Ohio State Department of Education, and the NAACP reached an agreement ending busing for racial balance in the city schools. Participants agreed that the era for litigated desegregation was over because busing had failed to raise academic achievement of African American children and court ordered racial balance caused white families to move to the suburbs. While this picture of racial desegregation fueled efforts to enhance the education of Dayton youth, it disguised the cause of the suburban sprawl that was endangering the region.