Constitutional Law and Race-Conscious Policies in K-12 Education. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Box 40, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 800-601-4868 (Toll Free); Tel: 212-678-3433; Fax: 212-678-4012; e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/pubget.asp?show=1.

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Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

Constitutional Law; Court Litigation; Educational Legislation; Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Equal Education; Policy Formation; Racial Factors; School Desegregation

0889-8049

This digest examines the constitutional framework guiding the use of race-conscious policymaking in K-12 education. Despite the requirements of Brown v Board of Education, recent court decisions suggest that desegregation remedies are becoming more limited, and voluntary policies will be subject to greater scrutiny. The legal framework governing racial policymaking in education reflects the intersection of two distinct bodies of law, one applying to court-ordered desegregation remedies flowing from the Brown decision, and the other applying to voluntary programs and policies that have been challenged as unconstitutional uses of race. The courts employ a two-part test under strict scrutiny, first evaluating whether a race-conscious policy advances a compelling governmental interest and second evaluating the fit between the policy and the interest being advanced. The paper concludes that the use of race in K-12 educational policy remains problematic. Policies that might be legal in one setting can be deemed unconstitutional in other settings. The law in this area continues to evolve as new policies are adopted and new cases litigated. The paper concludes with a list of cases cited. (SM)

2003

ED467112