Supreme Court Decision on Racial Diversity in Education

By Nate Raymond (NS:RYMD)

(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to further restrict efforts to promote racial diversity in education, turning away a case regarding Boston’s elite public high school admissions criteria that allegedly discriminated against white and Asian students.

The court opted not to hear an appeal by a coalition of parents and students, represented by a libertarian legal group, against a lower court's ruling supporting the legality of the policy. This policy had only been implemented for one year during the COVID pandemic. The plaintiffs claimed it violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment's promise of equal protection.

Two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented from the decision to decline the appeal.

The admissions policy, now replaced, set quotas based on applicants' residential zip codes and ranked candidates according to family income and GPA. It aimed to address racial inequities in admissions.

This ruling by the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals followed a Supreme Court decision that rejected race-conscious admissions policies for colleges and universities. The plaintiffs argued that the Boston policy represented a “virus” that could circumvent the affirmative action ruling.

Adopted by the Boston School Committee in 2021, the policy shifted from exam-based admissions after the pandemic disrupted entrance exams. Prior to this change, white and Asian American students comprised 60% of admitted students, while Black and Latino students made up 71% of the city’s school-age population. Post-change, white and Asian American admissions dropped to 49%.

The Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence sued, claiming the policy preferentially favored Black and Latino applicants, discriminating against others. However, the 1st Circuit upheld the judge’s ruling that the policy did not unlawfully discriminate, even after the Supreme Court's ruling on college admissions.

The city eventually abandoned this admissions process in favor of a new system based on GPA, exams, and residence. Plaintiffs continued their lawsuit despite the policy changes, representing children denied admission in 2021 despite having higher grades than some recipients from other zip codes.

The plaintiffs were supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation, which previously challenged a similar race-neutral admissions policy in Virginia at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

The Supreme Court also declined to hear an appeal of a Virginia ruling upholding that school’s admissions system, despite dissent from Justices Alito and Thomas.