Campaign: 15 Years of Impact

This year marks 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education, 60 years since Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and 50 years since Milliken v. Bradley. 2024 is not only a year of reflection on the enduring impact of these court cases and pieces of legislation (and what they’ll mean under the next presidential administration), but it also happens to be a year of celebration for the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD)—we turned 15 this year.

Founded in 2009 by nine civil rights organizations—including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program, Harvard Law's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute, and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)—NCSD emerged from the Supreme Court’s historic Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (PICS) decision. In that 4-1-4 decision, the Court shifted the school integration landscape while recognizing the pursuit of racial diversity and reduction of racial isolation in public schools as compelling government interests.



In the wake of the PICS ruling, NCSD’s founding members worked to amplify the social science evidence on the benefits of school integration and ensure the issue remained a priority for policymakers. The belief was that a single-issue coalition was necessary to bring renewed attention to the longstanding and persistent issue of segregated and inequitable education in America.

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