US schools still struggle with segregation 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education
(NEW YORK) — Schools in the U.S. remain deeply divided along racial, ethnic and economic lines, even as studies show that the K-12 public school population is becoming more diverse.
More than a third of students attend schools where 75% or more of those in attendance are of a single race or ethnicity, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s most recent investigation into K-12 education.
Saba Bireda and Ary Amerikaner co-founded Brown’s Promise, an initiative to combat racial segregation and honor the legacy of nine Arkansas students who suffered because of it.
In 1954, the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision ruled that public school segregation was unconstitutional. Three years later, the NAACP attempted to enroll nine black students at Little Rock Central High School. The ensuing chaos gripped the nation, with the media dubbing the students “Little Rock Nine.”
Then-Gov. Orval Faubus prevented the students from entering the racially segregated school, using his state’s National Guard for help. President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened after weeks of failed attempts to get the students through a full day of classes safely.
Following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, students started getting bused into schools from different neighborhoods to promote integration. However, much of that has stopped in the decades since.
“Unfortunately, we have come away from our commitment to the spirit of Brown,” Bireda said. “Schools have been resegregating rapidly since the 1980s.”
At the start of that decade, expensive busing orders began to expire. With a history of housing discrimination leading many neighborhoods to be segregated by race, for millions of students, attending the public school closest to their home means it wouldn’t be racially diverse.
Despite the billions of dollars invested in desegregating public schools over the past few decades, school segregation has returned to the same level as it was in the 1960s.
New York high school student Ava Pittman begins her daily commute by taking the public bus, just like millions of other students. However, her journey through the city’s Queens borough starts long before first period — shortly after dawn breaks.
Every morning, Pittman makes the 14-mile, hour-and-a-half journey from the Far Rockaway neighborhood to Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Elmhurst. She travels that far because she doesn’t think the schools near her are up to par.
“Schools in certain places like Far Rockaway, the resources are minimal,” Pittman said. “It’s just the quality of education. It’s different.”
Pittman’s opportunities are unique to her location, but the commute takes up most of her day. To her, it’s worth it because of everything she gets to do in that school.
“I co-founded an affinity group called BAM, which is ‘Black at Mel’s.’ ” Pittman said. “I’m also part of a group called ‘The Education Student Advisory Council.’ My speech and debate team is the most diverse in our league, [which is] the Brooklyn Queens Forensic League.”
According to data collected by the Department of Education between 2022 and 2023, among 100,000 public schools across the country, about 83% of all Black public school students and 82% of all Latino students attended a majority non-white school. At the same time, 75% of all white public school students were enrolled in a majority-white school.
At a recent conference in Baltimore, Bireda and Amerikaner met with education leaders to discuss solutions.
“We talk a lot about the importance of full integration to the health of our democracy,” Bireda said. “Students who continually are growing up in segregated environments or not interacting with people from different backgrounds.”
Even at a young age, Pittman advocates for diversity and integration in public schools. She is a youth advocacy director at Integrate NYC, a youth-led organization dedicated to created equity in New York City schools.
According to the Civil Rights Project, New York is one of the most diverse states in the nation. Despite this, it is one of the most segregated.
In a lawsuit against the state, Integrate NYC alleges that the city’s sorting and admission process forces students of color into the most overcrowded and under-resourced schools.
“We agree with plaintiffs that achieving those educational goals is made harder by the complex system of biases and inequities deeply rooted in this country’s history, culture, and institutions — a system that we also want to change,” the New York City Department of Education said in a statement sent to ABC News. “But this lawsuit is not the answer. We are prepared to defend against these claims in court.”
Unless something is done to improve school integration, Pittman and thousands of other students across the country will have to keep fighting for their education and the opportunities that come with it.
(NEW YORK) — Something seemed off from the moment Beaver County SWAT sniper Gregory Nicol spotted a man skulking around the outskirts of the site where former President Donald Trump was about to take the stage on July 13.
From his second-floor post inside the AGR complex at the fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, Nicol noticed the young man in a gray T-shirt, lurking.
“He was looking up and down the building … It just seemed out of place,” Nicol, assistant leader of the Beaver County SWAT team, told ABC News in an interview that airs Monday on Good Morning America, “It just didn’t seem right.”
Nicol noticed an unattended bike and backpack. And he saw the man looking up and around, then pulling a rangefinder from his pocket. There was no apparent reason to have a distance-gauging device at a political rally featuring the man who, in a few days, would accept his party’s presidential nomination. The sharpshooter snapped pictures of the suspicious-looking man and the bike, then flagged it to fellow snipers from his team assigned to the event and called it into the command group.
Nicol would be the first officer to issue a warning about 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Within an hour, Crooks would open fire from the roof of that very building, less than 200 yards from the rally’s stage, wounding Trump on live TV, killing one person in the crowd, and critically injuring two more.
The sniper and his fellow Beaver County SWAT officers were assigned to Trump’s Butler campaign rally, and tasked with supporting the Secret Service and other law enforcement in the mission to keep the event and Secret Service protectee, safe.
They have not spoken publicly until now.
‘Something that we’ll always carry with us’
In their first public comments since the assassination attempt, the Beaver County SWAT team and their supervisors spoke with ABC News Senior Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katersky, marking the first time any of the key law enforcement personnel who were on site July 13 have offered firsthand accounts of what occurred.
The violent episode has already led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. And, in the wake of the assassination attempt, a series of law enforcement, internal, and congressional probes have been announced — with communications and coordination a key focus of investigators’ attention.
“This one is something that we’ll always carry with us,” assistant Beaver County SWAT leader Mike Priolo told ABC News.
Long before Crooks would fire his AR-style rifle that Saturday evening, Crooks’ presence wasn’t the only thing that didn’t seem quite right to the local SWAT team.
Team members said that the day of the rally, they had no contact with the agents on Trump’s Secret Service detail.
“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” said Jason Woods, team leader for Beaver County’s Emergency Services Unit and SWAT sniper section.
“So I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened. We had no communication,” Woods said. “Not until after the shooting.”
By then, he said, “it was too late.”
The Secret Service, whose on-site team was supplemented as usual by local, county and state law-enforcement agencies, was ultimately responsible for security at the event, but none of the concerns apparently reached members of Trump’s detail.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi declined to respond directly to the comments Woods and his colleagues made to ABC News. He said the agency “is committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure that never happens again. That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI and other relevant investigations.”
To the men and woman of Beaver County SWAT, what happened is clear: There was a lack of planning and communication that caused a catastrophic failure in the protection of Donald Trump. They said they saw the problem coming, and they tried to alert the people in charge and sound the alarm.
With the presidential campaign in full gear and Trump now saying he wants to return for another rally outside Pittsburgh, it is critical to know what went wrong at the last one — so it doesn’t happen again.
“I have to imagine that they’re going to make some very serious adjustments — namely, probably, hold it inside where you have a lot more control over who’s coming in,” said Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible, who oversees the county SWAT unit. “If we’re asked for assistance, we will provide it.”
‘An away game’
By mid-morning on July 13, the Beaver County team of snipers and spotters was in position — hours before Trump was set to take the stage that evening at the sprawling grounds that’s studded by a complex of warehouses.
Once they were positioned at the security perimeter — outside the metal detectors — Woods said he immediately wondered whether they had been put in the most effective spot.
“I think the better location would have been inside looking out, and that’s actually where the Secret Service snipers end up getting placed,” Woods said. “For us to effectively do our job, I don’t know if that was the best location.”
But it was “an away game,” Woods said, meaning his team was not in charge. So they deferred to the Secret Service agents whose job it was to determine the security plan and keep Trump safe.
“I knew the Secret Service knew where we were supposed to be, and that’s where we were placed,” Woods said.
“Our instructions, marching orders were given to us from Butler County EMS unit, their command. With, historically speaking, approval from the Secret Service,” Priolo said.
This was not the team’s first time participating in a Secret Service operation.
“We as a team would assume that that would be a robust type thing, that they would have constant communication. And it very well might have been — we’re just not aware of it,” said Beaver County Chief Detective Patrick Young, the commander of emergency services.
The event’s atmosphere, Young said, also meant a dynamic environment: Officers had to rapidly gauge whether rallygoers’ bulging back pockets held merely bottled water or booze — commonplace at a festive gathering under the blazing summer sun of Western Pennsylvania — or was a sign of something more sinister.
“Our first indication that there was going to be something different about this was the lack of patrol that we’d seen in the area,” Priolo said of the plans.
The effect of that, he said, was that the SWAT officers would have to personally handle any urgent patrol-level incident that should arise.
“The best analogy I’ve heard is — we’re a scalpel, when you’re asking us to be used as a hammer,” Priolo said. “That’s kind of what we figured out throughout the day.”
‘They must have found this guy’
When Nicol observed Crooks’ suspicious presence and called it in to local command via radio, he said he expected action to be taken — like a uniformed officer would “check it out,” according to text messages between snipers on the ground, which were obtained by ABC News.
“The first thing I did, I sent those pictures out, we had a text group between the local snipers that were on the scene. I sent those pictures out to that group and advised them of what I noticed and what I’d seen,” Nicol said. ‘There was a text back that said, ‘Call it into command.’ I then called into our to the command via radio. And they acknowledged.”
“I assumed that there would be somebody coming out to — you know, to speak with this individual or, you know, find out what’s going on,” he added.
Nicol moved through the building trying to shadow Crooks, who was outside, and keep eyes on him. But Nicole lost sight of Crooks as Nicol made his way down to the building’s first level.
By that time, Trump had taken the stage, Nicol said.
Then, as the former president began speaking, Nicole noticed rallygoers looking away from the podium, up toward the roof of the AGR building. Some were shouting that there was someone up there.
Nicol said he was almost relieved, thinking to himself, “Oh, they must have found this guy we were looking for out there, and everybody’s watching the police deal with him.”
He would soon discover that wasn’t the case.
“That’s when I heard the gunshots,” Nicol said. Crooks had opened fire on the campaign rally.
SWAT medic Michel Vasiladiotis-Nicol responded with Beaver County SWAT Det. Rich Gianvito, along with other local personnel from Butler County and the surrounding areas.
They squeezed through the fence perimeter and headed toward the building where the shots had come from.
“We then ascended that ladder to then meet up with — what — we weren’t sure again if it was a mass casualty or what we were walking into,” said Vasiladiotis-Nicol, who is sniper Gregory Nicol’s wife.
“We’re prepared for anything at that point,” Gianvito said, including a possible firefight because the team had no idea if the rooftop shooter was dead or alive, or if there could be an accomplice still unaccounted for.
On the roof, they found Crooks motionless and face down — images captured on Gianvito’s helmet camera. Crooks’ wrists had been quickly bound with white plastic ties, in case he was still alive. A long trail of blood flowed down the sloped roof.
Vasiladiotis-Nicol put her gloved fingers to the shooter’s neck. “He had absolutely no pulse,” she recalled.
In the seconds after the shooting, Trump was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors treated a wound to his ear. Later that night he flew back to his golf club in New Jersey. The first photos of him after the shooting — blood down his face, fist raised over the heads of the Secret Service agents rushing him away — have already become iconic images.
What remains are looming questions and an impatient Congress. How could this happen? Could the shooting have been prevented? Was it a failure of planning, coordination, communications — or all of the above?
“I think with some better planning perhaps, it could have been stopped,” said Bible, the Beaver County DA. “You’re protecting one of probably the more high-profile political candidates in history. So, how was a 20-year-old able to fire off several shots at him?”
Georgia Schools Superintendent Richard Woods announced on Wednesday that the state will restore public funding for Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies to be taught in public schools after seeking “guidance and clarity” from the state’s attorney general regarding whether state law permits its inclusion in the state-approved course catalog.
In a statement posted to the Georgia Department of Education website, the Republican school chief said that “It has “been determined that this law shall not restrict local school systems from adopting any AP, IB, or dual enrollment course,” as long as “these courses are implemented ‘in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs,’” as outlined by the law.
“As I have said, I will follow the law. In compliance with this opinion, the AP African American Studies course will be added to the state-funded course catalog effective immediately,” Woods’ statement continued.
In his decision last month to pull public funding for the course, Woods cited Georgia’s House Bill 1084, Republican-backed legislation that became law in 2002 and that banned teaching “divisive concepts” in public school, including numerous concepts dealing with race and racism, including what is generally described as institutional racism.
But on Wednesday, Woods said that his decision to reverse course is based on a determination by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who said in a letter sent to “the sponsor of [HB 1084]” that “this law shall not restrict local school systems from adopting any AP, IB, or dual enrollment course,” and that “Each such course will be exempted from the provisions of the divisive concepts legislation, so long as these courses are implemented “in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs.”
Woods’ statement did not name HB 1084’s sponsor, but the bill was authored by state Rep. Will Wade.
Carr said in that letter, which was obtained by ABC News, that HB 1084 was “not to be construed or applied to somehow prohibit the implementation of advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or dual enrollment coursework.”
“The only limitations placed on such coursework by [HB 1084] are that it is implemented ‘in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs.'”
A spokesperson for Carr told ABC News on Wednesday that the letter reflects his view on state funding for the AP African American studies course.
ABC News reached out to Wade’s office for further comment, but the request was not immediately returned.
A representative for the Georgia Senate told ABC News that despite the reversal, Democratic lawmakers from both of the state’s legislative chambers are still expected to hold a previously scheduled hearing on the issue on Thursday.
Woods’ July 23 decision to prohibit the teaching of AP African American studies in Georgia public schools was met with weeks of backlash from state Democratic lawmakers, educators and students, who urged the superintendent to reverse his decision.
“From the beginning, we knew that Woods was wrong,” Democratic Sen. Nikki Merritt wrote Wednesday on X. “This is a victory today for our students, teachers, and Black History demonstrating the potential of community involvement.”
Merritt previously criticized Woods’ decision during a July 24 press conference at the Georgia State Capitol, where a group of Democratic lawmakers and advocates called on Woods to restore funding for the AP African American studies course and argued that it has been unfairly targeted.
“This course is the only AP course removed. And we’re left wondering why. I can tell you it’s not about funding,” Merritt said during the event.
While the state rejected funding for the AP course, school districts still had the option to offer courses on African American studies as a topic, but Merritt said that was “not good enough.”
“Explain to me why this course is being singled out and is no longer eligible for state funds,” she added.
Woods said in his statement Wednesday that the exemption will require that a disclaimer be added to all AP courses in the Georgia course catalog, which in part says that “Advanced Placement (AP) courses and their instructional frameworks and curriculum are solely owned and endorsed by the College Board. The contents of these courses have not been reviewed or approved by the Georgia Department of Education.”
The disclaimer further advises school districts to “use a process for reviewing, approving, and adopting AP courses and instructional frameworks that engages students, parents, educators, and community stakeholders.”
“Curricula and training should abide by state and local policies, including House Bill 1084 – which requires that the curriculum of exempted AP courses be implemented in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs,” the disclaimer concludes.
The inclusion of AP African American studies in public schooling has become a politically charged topic in many states. Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas have also recently pulled public funding for the course.
ABC News’ Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.
(GASTONIA, N.C.) — A North Carolina man accused of fatally poisoning his wife with eyedrops is now being accused of attempting to poison their 11-year-old daughter with the same substance, resulting in her hospitalization, according to court documents.
Joshua Lee Hunsucker’s was booked on Tuesday and his bond was revoked amid concerns he is abusing and neglecting one of his children, neglecting another child and intimidating witnesses in his murder case. Prosecutors argued that he has become “increasingly aggressive” and that his “dangerous actions will continue to escalate,” according to court documents.
Hunsucker, 40, is accused of poisoning his then-10-year-old daughter with eyedrops over a year after he allegedly killed his wife with the same substance. He put the eye drops into his child’s beverage and the substance was found in their urine sample, according to court documents.
A drug commonly prescribed for depression and not approved for children was also found in her blood. Investigators had found the drug in Hunsucker’s truck, according to court documents.
The 10-year-old was suffering from low blood pressure, low heart rate, extreme exhaustion and sleepiness and constricted blood vessels leading to her hospitalization, court documents show.
Prosecutors accused Hunsucker poisoned his daughter in an attempt to implicate John and Susie Robinson, who are witnesses in his wife’s murder case. Hunsucker was indicted on Monday on four counts of intimidation and four counts of obstruction of justice, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged that while his daughter was receiving treatment, Hunsucker told medical professionals that it appeared she had been given eyedrops which prosecutors said “does not appear to be a reasonable conclusion based on the symptoms” she was exhibiting.
Hunsucker is accused of poisoning his wife Stacy Robinson Hunsucker with tetrahydrozoline — eyedrops — and submitting false information to an insurance company, claiming his wife died “due to myocardial infarction when, in fact, it was due to homicide by poisoning,” according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker then cremated her before filing for her $250,000 life insurance policy two days after she died. He received an insurance payout of over $200,000, according to court documents.
Because Stacy Hunsucker was an organ donor, a vial of her blood was preserved after she died. When her husband raised suspicion, an investigation into her death was opened and the blood sample was tested, revealing a high presence of eyedrops, according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker is accused of putting eyedrops in her drinks over a period of time, leading to her death. Before her death, Joshua Hunsucker had told two coworkers that if he killed someone he would do so using eyedrops, according to court documents.
He was arrested in December 2019 and released after he paid a $1.5 million bond and has been wearing an ankle monitor and maintained a curfew.
Joshua Hunsucker is also accused of threatening or attempting to intimidate the Robinsons by sending a package to their residence, filming and following them in public places, routinely driving by their house and making vulgar gestures towards them in the parking lot of the church they attend, demanding that they drop the charges against them, according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker also falsely accused John Robinson of assaulting and kidnapping him, according to court docs.
He is accused of staging his own kidnapping, falsely reporting that he stopped to change a flat tire and a pistol-whipped him in the head multiple times before his hands were zip-tied and injected with an unknown substance. Hunsucker then accused him of attacking him to “shift responsibility from the defendant to the Robinsons for his wife’s death,” according to court documents.