American Civil Rights Found. v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., No. BC 341363 (Dec. 10, 2007)
A California trial court has ruled that Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) consideration of race in its magnet schools admissions policy does not violate the amendment to the state constitution known as Proposition 209, which bars preferential treatment in public institutions, including schools, based on race. When the American Civil Rights Foundation (ACRF) sued to overturn the policy, LAUSD countered that Prop 209’s own terms exempt the policy because it was implemented pursuant to a 1981 court desegregation order that predates 1996 adoption of Prop 209. ACRF conceded that court ordered desegregation plans predating Prop 209 are exempt but argued that the desegregation plan was dissolved in 1998 when a California appellate court lifted judicial supervision over the plan.
The superior court granted LAUSD’s motion for summary judgment and denied ACRF’s. The 1998 appellate court ruling terminating court supervision of the 1981 desegregation plan did not dissolve the order, the superior court found, but merely returned supervision of the plan to LAUSD. The court cited the appellate court’s opinion, Board of Educ. v. Carlin, 61 Cal.App.4th 411 (1998): “[W]e emphasize this modification serves only to hasten the end of the court’s supervisory function; it does not terminate District’s Integration Program. Instead, as of July 1, 1998, responsibility for the control, supervision and development of Integration Program will be returned to District.” Absent a precise statement as to when a school district’s desegregation program is to terminate, the court found, a court is justified in considering the program still in effect.
American Civil Rights Found. v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., No. BC 341363 (Dec. 10, 2007)
[Editor’s Note: For reactions to ruling, see the Los Angeles Times report below. In May, a California state court upheld two out of three programs in Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) that take student race into account against a Prop 209 challenge. See the second link.]
Los Angeles Times By Mitchell Landsberg & Joel Rubin
NSBA School Law pages on American Civil Rights Found. v. Berkeley Unified Sch. Dist.