busing

or bus·sing

[ buhs-ing ]

noun

1. the transporting of students by bus to schools outside their neighborhoods, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school.

busing

1. The movement of students from one neighborhood to a school in another neighborhood, usually by bus and usually to break down de facto segregation of public schools.

Notes

A Supreme Court decision in 1971 ruling that busing was an appropriate means of achieving integrated schools ( see integration ) was received with widespread, sometimes violent, resistance, particularly among whites into whose neighborhoods and schools black children were to be bused. In 1991, the Court ruled that school districts could end busing if they had done everything “practicable” to eliminate the traces of past discrimination.

Word History and Origins

Origin of busing¹

1885–90; bus ¹ (v.) + -ing ¹, spelled irregular with single s, perhaps to avoid association with buss

Example Sentences

The much-awaited analysis comes after more than two years of community discussion and study, which sparked debate about race, income and fairness — and “long-distance busing” — in suburban, liberal Montgomery County.

From Washington Post

Many skeptics said they appreciate diversity but oppose busing and want to preserve neighborhood ties and student friendships that are already formed.

From Washington Post

The report did not include any mass busing plan, as some had feared.

From Washington Post

Bill Winkler, the owner of Peoria Charter Coach, a busing company in Illinois, said that the business back on its feet after coming to a halt earlier in the pandemic.

From Washington Post

There is an onslaught of factors to consider, he said — for one thing, Fairfax must develop new busing protocols, which involve cleaning the buses on both morning and evening routes.

From Washington Post

Hell, even the band-aid of busing was enough to spark a huge backlash to civil rights laws.

From The Daily Beast

Full integration, Colby argues, requires far more than policies like busing and affirmative action.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, busing was a failure—conceptually and substantively—because of faulty liberal assumptions.

From The Daily Beast

Rather, a biracial coalition of interests saw busing as one of many tools in the fight for integration.

From The Daily Beast

I have criticized busing myself as liberal overreach and a remedy that was bound to inspire backlash.

From The Daily Beast

This situation was unusual for the Navy although integrated busing had been standard practice in the Army since mid-1944.

From Project Gutenberg