Court Upholds School Diversity Programs in Los Angeles

December 12, 2007
Court Upholds School Diversity Programs in Los Angeles (New York),

December 11—The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) joins parents and students in celebrating a major victory in protecting efforts to diversify Los Angeles public schools. The court today ruled in American Civil Rights Foundation v. Los Angeles Unified School District that the Magnet School and Permits with Transportation programs are legally permissible components of Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) efforts to integrate their schools. A 1981 court order expressly required that LAUSD consider race in selecting students for its magnet schools and in diversifying schools through its busing program–that court order remains in effect today. The court also noted that LAUSD could not comply with the 1981 court order or its obligation under the California Constitution to "undertake reasonably feasible steps to alleviate school segregation, regardless of cause" without taking race into account. "Todays ruling marks a victory for efforts to address the pervasive racial segregation in Los Angeles Schools. This ruling gives all Americans hope that the promise of Brown can and will be achieved," said Ted Shaw, LDF Director-Counsel and President.
[To read the entire story, go to: https://https://www.naacpldf.org/content.aspx?article=1228]