Seventy years is a good amount of time to correct historic wrongs. Or not. The Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Earl Warren court occurred on May 15, 1954. The court found separating the education of children by race was not and could not be equal, as the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent held.

The two historic court decisions examined the circumstances of racial separation on public education. Justice Henry Brown of Michigan proffered the Plessy argument in 1896 in favor of separate education:

“We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it.”

He further stated:

“The argument also assumes that social prejudice may be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured except by an enforced commingling of the two races… If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.”

Chief Justice Warren rejected the Plessy decision. He stated:

“We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Stay up to speed: Sign up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

At the time, the Brown decision did not thrill many White Americans. It did not stir them to welcome Black students into their all-White public schools. It brought a mass movement of families away from schools integrated by court decision toward segregated public or private schools with majority White populations. This movement altered racial concentrations in cities and sped the growth of suburbs.

Here’s how the court decision played out in Colorado, particularly in the Denver metro area: Denver’s population in 1960 was almost 500,000. Schools were segregated. Fifteen schools had Black student populations of 70% or more or Black/Hispanic populations of 70% or more. The remaining schools had large majority White student populations. With the Keyes Supreme Court decision on segregation in Denver Public Schools, DPS was directed to integrate its schools. This decision meant that the DPS board’s decisions for open choice had not caused White families to seek predominantly Black schools for their children’s education.

That’s when court-ordered busing occurred. Denver’s population in 1970 was 514,678. By 1980, the population declined to 492,365. The 1990 census put Denver’s population at 467,549. It could be argued the decline from 1980 to 1990 was an effect of the Colorado recession in that period, except the populations in Arapahoe County and Jefferson County suburbs rapidly grew. Arapahoe County doubled in population from 1970 to 1990, from 162,142 to 391,672. Jefferson County grew from 233,031 population in 1970 to 572,076 in 1990.

The effect of this migration is apparent in the school district populations of today. Denver’s schools are 75% minority. Cherry Creek schools are 52% minority. Jefferson County schools are 34% minority.

The current push for “school choice” and the growth of charter schools has exacerbated segregation within school districts. In Denver, 86% of students in charters are minority students to the district average of 75%. Thirty-four Denver charters are 90% plus minority. Only six charter schools are integrated with roughly 50% of students White and 50% of students minority.

The Charter School Institute, a state-funded school district with charter schools that couldn’t find homes in the districts of their location, shows the legacy impact of segregation Chief Justice Earl Warren identified. These schools are the ultimate “choice” schools in Colorado’s public education system. The district has 12 schools in the state’s “improvement” accreditation status, meaning their students are not meeting state-established academic standards. These schools average 71% minority population. The district has 12 schools in the state’s high-achievement, “distinction” status. These schools average 27% minority population.

Academy 20 school district north of Colorado Springs has 32% minority population. Its Classical Academy Charter network averages only 19.5% minority students. In contrast, Pueblo City 60 averages 77% minority students in its schools, but Chavez-Huerta has 83% minority students. Pueblo County 70 averages 47% minority students but its Classical Academy cadre averages 38% minority. Minority students are selecting large minority population campuses and White students are picking White student campuses. This trend is also true in Jefferson County where schools average 33% minority population, but four of its charters average only 23%.

Apparently Justice Henry Brown made the factually correct call in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Despite the ongoing facts minority students fare better academically when they attend racially and culturally diverse schools, Colorado’s school districts allow segregation, and families choose to separate. White families in charter schools tend to attend large majority White population schools. Black and Hispanic families often choose charter schools with large minority populations, mostly above 70% minority. The charters choose to market their programs to these separate populations.

These separations impede academic progress among minorities and defeat Chief Justice Warren’s premise “separate but equal” has no place. Separate but equal may theoretically have no place in Colorado’s schools, but facts demonstrate that segregation is a foundation of our state’s public education policy and decision-making.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.