The answer to the school desegregation lawsuit? Revive urban communities.
Sponsored by The Boston Foundation The Best of CommonWealth Beacon OPINION The answer to the school desegregation lawsuit? Revive urban communities. May 24, 2026 By Ben Forman On Wednesday, a team of litigators filed a lawsuit on behalf of students from Boston and several Gateway Cities arguing that the stark segregation of schools by race and income violates the Massachusetts Constitution’s guarantee of an adequate public education for all students. The first school desegregation case in a generation caught many by surprise, though it should not have—Massachusetts has some of the highest income segregation in the nation along with the largest and fastest-growing achievement gaps in the US. There is overwhelming evidence that concentrating low-income students in high-poverty schools is the leading driver of socioeconomic disparities in educational outcomes. Still, some may question whether now is the right time to pursue what could become a ...