What It Means When Democratic Frontrunners Say They Support the Strength in Diversity Act
July 11, 2019
By: Kalyn Belsha
Source: Chalkbeat
When Senator Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden sparred on the Democratic primary debate stage, they launched a national conversation about school desegregation and prompted questions about how candidates would tackle the issue as president.
Their exchange also raised the profile of legislation known as the Strength in Diversity Act, which several Democratic frontrunners have endorsed. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were both early co-sponsors of the bill, and Harris signed on just this week.
The legislation would create a federal grant program to fund racial and economic school integration efforts across the country. Even supporters acknowledge it’s a fairly modest proposal, limited only to communities that want to participate. But candidates who support it, they say, are signaling that they believe school segregation is a problem and that the federal government should play a role in fixing it — a departure from the increasingly hands-off approach federal officials have taken in recent decades.