Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (05-908)
Race as a factor in assigning students to high schools
Seattle students entering high school were allowed to rank which schools they preferred. If an individual school had more applicants than available slots, the School District used a series of tie-breakers to decide who got in. First priority was for students with a sibling attending the school.
The student's race was second tie-breaker when an individual school's racial composition deviated more than 15 percent from the overall racial composition of the School District.
Parents Involved, an organization of parents with school-age children, sued the District claiming that screening students on the basis of race violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The 9th Circuit held that the District's approach was lawful.
Whenever a government entity (such as a public school district) makes decisions based on race, the courts engage in "strict scrutiny." This means that the District must have a "compelling state interest," and the District's approach must be "narrowly tailored" to carrying out that interest.
The School District says that it has a compelling state interest in having its schools racially integrated because that has educational advantages, and its plan is necessary to prevent individual high schools from becoming predominately one race or another.
Parents Involved says the District's goal is racial balancing, which the Supreme Court has said cannot justify selecting students because of their race. Parents Involved also argues that there are other ways for the District to attain its goals without selecting based on race.
A complicating factor in this case is the suggestion that Parents Involved might be an improper party to raise these issues, so the Court could dismiss the whole case for lack of standing. The group represents parents whose children were denied admission, but those children have already graduated from high school. The group also represents parents with school-age children who have not yet applied. A final complication is the fact that the School District is not using this plan at the present time.
Seattle students entering high school were allowed to rank which schools they preferred. If an individual school had more applicants than available slots, the School District used a series of tie-breakers to decide who got in. First priority was for students with a sibling attending the school.
The student's race was second tie-breaker when an individual school's racial composition deviated more than 15 percent from the overall racial composition of the School District.
Parents Involved, an organization of parents with school-age children, sued the District claiming that screening students on the basis of race violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The 9th Circuit held that the District's approach was lawful.
Whenever a government entity (such as a public school district) makes decisions based on race, the courts engage in "strict scrutiny." This means that the District must have a "compelling state interest," and the District's approach must be "narrowly tailored" to carrying out that interest.
The School District says that it has a compelling state interest in having its schools racially integrated because that has educational advantages, and its plan is necessary to prevent individual high schools from becoming predominately one race or another.
Parents Involved says the District's goal is racial balancing, which the Supreme Court has said cannot justify selecting students because of their race. Parents Involved also argues that there are other ways for the District to attain its goals without selecting based on race.
A complicating factor in this case is the suggestion that Parents Involved might be an improper party to raise these issues, so the Court could dismiss the whole case for lack of standing. The group represents parents whose children were denied admission, but those children have already graduated from high school. The group also represents parents with school-age children who have not yet applied. A final complication is the fact that the School District is not using this plan at the present time.
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