Government services themselves look very different for communities facing poverty, low density, population loss, and color-blind policies. In 1963, more than 250,000 students boycotted Chicago public schools to protest racial segregation. Specifically, they called for the resignation of Superintendent Benjamin Willis for discriminatory practices. In segregated and overcrowded black schools, the superintendent called for the construction of trailers, or "Willis Wagons," on school grounds instead of allowing black students to enroll in white schools. The protests were unsuccessful and segregation was maintained. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay This was part of Mayor Richard J. Daley's de facto segregation policies that made segregation normal in Chicago. This provision has remained essentially unchanged to this day. This is more than a historical anecdote. White racial advantage in politics and resource distribution is the foundation of our urban history. From explicit racial school segregation, to FHA lending practices and redlining, racially inequitable public policy has shaped our region's urban landscape. Although legal discrimination has been largely eliminated, the historical effects of racism and current unfair investment and law enforcement perpetuate disparities in education, housing, employment, income, wealth, and more , as described in the MPC's Cost of Segregation. Not only do we pay the costs of segregation, we also miss the opportunity for greater growth that comes from more equitable outcomes. There are several policies that invest in growth and reduce racial inequities in outcomes. A commonly cited example is early childhood education. As the White House noted in 2014, the benefit increases cognitive and achievement scores by an average of 0.35 standard deviations, or nearly half the difference between blacks and whites in the kindergarten achievement gap. Expanding access to early childhood education would go a long way towards narrowing the achievement gap. Reducing the achievement gap would have a profound impact on reducing public costs and increasing economic productivity. This includes employment, income, motherhood, health, likelihood of receiving public assistance, and political participation. However, systemic inequalities persist. In Chicago, there have always been structural disparities in funding that impact the education system as a whole. In 2017, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) provided operating expenditures per pupil (OEPP) which demonstrated the wide disparity in the state. For elementary schools, Lake County's Roundout SD 72 spent 34,306.51 per student compared to Bureau County's Cherry SD 92. , which spent 2,790.05 per student. For high school districts, Cook County's Niles Twp HSD 219 spent $30,257.37 per student compared to Johnson County's Vienna HSD 133 which spent $9,475.55 per student. A lack of equity exists among urban, suburban, and rural communities where some students get what they need while others are left behind. Faced with these inequities, the Illinois Legislature passed SB1 in August 2017 which seeks to address some of the inequities in the state funding formula. Uses what are described as “adequacy targets” to allocate state funds to areas that have little financial capacity to finance.