The Department of Education鈥檚 office for civil rights has weighed in on the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2007 decision on school districts鈥� consideration of race in assigning students to schools.
In a 鈥淒ear colleague鈥� letter dated Aug. 28, the office boiled down nearly 180 pages of opinions by the justices in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District to barely two pages of analysis.
鈥淭he Department of Education strongly encourages the use of race-neutral methods for assigning students to elementary and secondary schools,鈥� the OCR letter says. 鈥淕enuinely race-neutral measures鈥� such as those based on a student鈥檚 socioeconomic status would not trigger the highest level of court scrutiny, the office says.
The letter takes no notice of the key concurring opinion by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in the cases from Seattle and Jefferson County, Ky.
鈥淥CR鈥檚 interpretation of the decision is inaccurate in a number of respects,鈥� says a statement issued last week by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, based in New York City.
Anurima Bhargava, the director of the civil rights group鈥檚 education practice, said the letter 鈥渋s very limited in its reading鈥� of the high court decision. 鈥淚t鈥檚 as if Kennedy hadn鈥檛 written,鈥� she said.
The court ruled 5-4 in June of last year that assignment plans in the two districts that sometimes relied on race-based assignments to achieve diversity in individual schools, violated the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
But Justice Kennedy wrote that while those districts used race in an unconstitutional manner, it would be permissible for districts to take race into account under certain circumstances, such as when choosing sites for new schools, drawing attendance zones based on neighborhood demographics, or allocating resources for special programs.
The LDF statement said that in contrast to the Education Department鈥檚 interpretation, 鈥渢here is no requirement in Parents Involved that school districts only use race-neutral means to promote the compelling interests in diversity and avoiding racial isolation in their schools.鈥�
