Congress’ Spending Bill Still Has A 1970s Measure Barring Funds For Desegregation Busing

A little-known, decades-old measure keeping schools from using federal funds to bus students “in order to overcome racial imbalance” was included in the spending bill President Obama signed into law on Friday.

The measure in the 2,000-page legislation has been in spending bills since the 1970s, according to congressional and administration aides, but no one is sure of why the language is still included. And in a year fraught with racial tensions, some activists are taking notice.

The measure states: “No funds appropriated in this Act may be used for the transportation of students or teachers (or for the purchase of equipment for such transportation) in order to overcome racial imbalance in any school or school system, or for the transportation of students or teachers (or for the purchase of equipment for such transportation) in order to carry out a plan of racial desegregation of any school or school system.”