Quote from fhl:
The defining moment in recent history for chicago schools came just last year when the black students boycotted for a day to protest their contention that white schools were getting better funding.
They were getting better funding. Because the people that lived in the white school districts were paying more money in taxes for their schools.
Black democrats contended that this was unfair. The money that the whites paid for their districts should be taken from them and given to the black school districts, they said.
Sort of an effort to "spread the wealth around".