Re-evaluating how to integrate schools

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down voluntary programs to integrate schools in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., has left hundreds of school districts struggling to assess whether they must change policies that use race as a factor in school assignments. Many lawyers say the ruling will not end a half century of litigation over school desegregation but rather reignite it, as school districts turn to alternative methods for achieving diversity.
Click here to read The New York Time s article.

READ THE FULL OPINION HERE (185 PAGES)

SIDEBAR: The five opinions that made up the decision limiting the use of race in assigning students to public schools referred to Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 school desegregation case, some 90 times. But lawyers who represented the black schoolchildren in the Brown case say several justices in the majority misinterpreted positions and misunderstood the true meaning of Brown.
Click here to read The New York Times article.

MORE REACTION:

• It may take months, but Jefferson County, Ky., officials believe they can come up with a new student-assignment plan that keeps local public schools integrated. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• Seattle district officials vow to find another way to promote diversity in a city where schools and neighborhoods are still fairly segregated. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• For the Seattle mother who led a 2000 lawsuit, the decision is a vindication. (Los Angeles Times)
• Legal experts were split on how the ruling will affect the Los Angeles district and its magnet school program. (Los Angeles Times)
• School officials say the decision should not have any immediate effect on Chicago public schools, which are already under federal oversight. (Chicago Tribune)
• School leaders in the Houston area say they're not expecting a shake-up in how they assign students to campuses. (Houston Chronicle)
• The ruling will not apply to Jefferson Parish (La.) public schools, which are still subject to a decades-old federal order. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• Legal experts forecast no immediate impact on the St. Louis magnet school system. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Race is one of the factors Volusia County (Fla.) school officials consider when establishing attendance zone boundaries. (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

Earlier: The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected integration plans in two major public school districts, but left the door open for the limited use of race to achieve diversity in schools. The decision in cases affecting how students are assigned to schools in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle could imperil similar plans in hundreds of districts nationwide, and it further restricted how public school systems may attain racial diversity.
Click here to read The Seattle Times article.