Final answer:
The 1974 Supreme Court decision in Milliken v. Bradley severely restricted busing across school district lines as a means to desegregate schools, requiring proof of intention to segregate before allowing such measures. This decision had profound implications for urban areas, particularly by reinforcing segregated residential patterns and impacting funding equity.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the landmark Milliken v. Bradley case of 1974, the Supreme Court issued a significant decision impacting school desegregation efforts. This decision specifically addressed the issue of busing students across district lines for the purpose of achieving racial balance in public schools. The Court held that such busing was not permissible unless it could be demonstrated that the existing school district lines were drawn with the intent of segregating schools, thereby violating the precedent set by Brown v. Board of Education. This ruling thus placed a substantial limitation on the use of busing as a tool for desegregation, mainly in urban areas where segregated housing patterns often resulted in racially homogeneous schools.
The case emanated from Detroit's metropolitan area, where the school district lines aligned with the various independent municipalities comprising the region. Consequently, the ruling effectively isolated Detroit as a separate school district, complicating efforts to rectify de facto segregation. Since school funding is frequently linked to local property taxes, the Milliken decision also had significant implications for equalizing educational resources between more affluent suburban districts and less wealthy urban centers. It reaffirmed the persistence of 'white flight,' a phenomenon wherein white families moved to suburbs to avoid integration, ultimately influencing how school integration efforts could legally proceed.