Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) and a coalition of public interest organizations filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting parents challenging an unconstitutional K-12 race-based admissions policy. Boston Parent Coalition, represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, is asking the Supreme Court to take up their case and strike down Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) ZIP code quota, which the school district uses to achieve a racial balance among its 7th through 12th grade classes.
BPS traditionally used a merit-based system to grant admission to its three prestigious “Exam Schools.” But in 2019, BPS made an about-face and changed its admissions policy to achieve a desired outcome in the racial composition of its student body. BPS implemented a new ZIP code quota, setting aside seats in each class based on applicants’ ZIP codes rather than merit alone, with the anticipated result being a change in the racial makeup of each class.
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In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court struck down college admissions policies that used racial balancing to achieve a certain racial outcome among their classes. Yet K-12 schools are still engaging in such practices in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
As SLF and amici explain in their brief, it violates the Constitution any time schools like BPS weigh students’ skin color during the admissions process. And even something seemingly neutral like a ZIP code policy typically masks discriminatory intent, as overtly racial statements and discussions by BPS officials made it clear that the school district’s goal was to socially engineer its student body.
Amici are urging the Supreme Court to take up the case and strike down this discriminatory and unconstitutional policy.