The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today striking down racial integration plans in Seattle and Louisville was unfortunate, but it must not spell the end to school integration. As outlined in a new report from The Century Foundation, Rescuing Brown v. Board of Education: Profiles of Twelve Districts Pursuing Socioeconomic Integration, a powerful alternative exists that will produce a fair amount of racial integration—and boost academic achievement—and the U.S. Supreme Court can’t lay a glove on it.

The new plans to integrate by income are not just a clumsy proxy for using race in student assignment; they are supported by a large body of research finding that low-income students do far better in middle-class schools than they do in high-poverty schools. As Rescuing Brown v. Board of Education notes, income-based integration programs, when well implemented, have boosted academic achievement and produced a healthy amount of racial diversity. The report focuses on three leading districts with the longest standing and most comprehensive socioeconomic integration policies—Wake County (Raleigh), North Carolina; La Crosse, Wisconsin; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. It also includes profiles of nine additional communities that are using socioeconomic status as a factor in assignment: Berkeley, California; Brandywine, Delaware; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina; Manatee County, Florida; McKinney, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; Rochester, New York; and San Francisco, California.

While the Supreme Court’s decision today is disappointing, it would be a great shame if districts gave up on integration altogether. Fortunately, an attractive alternative is available.

Richard D. Kahlenberg, a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, is author of All Together Now: Creating Middle-Class Schools through Public School Choice.