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FRONTLINE: Separate And Unequal

Students in line. FRONTLINE travels to Baton Rouge, where — frustrated over their district’s many low-performing schools — a group of mostly white, middle-class parents and business leaders are trying to break away and form a new city with its own separate schools. It’s a controversial effort that mirrors similar breakaway movements in cities around the country that critics say are reversing hard-fought civil rights gains.
Courtesy of FRONTLINE
Students in line. FRONTLINE travels to Baton Rouge, where — frustrated over their district’s many low-performing schools — a group of mostly white, middle-class parents and business leaders are trying to break away and form a new city with its own separate schools. It’s a controversial effort that mirrors similar breakaway movements in cities around the country that critics say are reversing hard-fought civil rights gains.

Airs Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV

Students in Baton Rouge.
Courtesy of FRONTLINE
Students in Baton Rouge.
Students in Baton Rouge.
Courtesy of FRONTLINE
Students in Baton Rouge.
Omarina Cabrera. FRONTLINE continues its examination of a groundbreaking effort to stem the dropout crisis in America’s high-poverty schools.
Courtesy of FRONTLINE
Omarina Cabrera. FRONTLINE continues its examination of a groundbreaking effort to stem the dropout crisis in America’s high-poverty schools.

Experience powerful investigative storytelling that answers only to you. From criminal justice to politics to global issues, the reporting of PBS’ flagship public affairs series takes you inside the controversial, complex stories shaping our times.

"Separate And Unequal" - Sixty years after the Supreme Court declared separate schools for black and white children unconstitutional, FRONTLINE examines the comeback of segregation in America. The film focuses on Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where a group of mostly white parents are trying to form their own city with its own separate school district, leaving behind a population of black students.

Through the battle in Baton Rouge, FRONTLINE shows the growing racial divide in American schools and the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education.

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Also this hour: FRONTLINE updates the story of Omarina Cabrera, a struggling student from the Bronx who today is excelling at an elite prep school in New England due to a groundbreaking program to stem the high school dropout crisis.

Drawing on the 2012 film, "Middle School Moment," FRONTLINE follows Omarina’s achievements and challenges and shows the contrasts to her twin brother, who has remained in the Bronx.

Past episodes of FRONTLINE are available for online viewing. FRONTLINE is on Facebook, Instagram and you can follow @frontlinepbs on Twitter.

FRONTLINE: Separate And Unequal Preview