What would a lawsuit over redistricting/school assignment look like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. It has always seemed to me AA families EOTP always had a potential case, but people getting moved out of the crowded white schools to other DCPS with space? No way. You are just a bunch of idiots.

There are two types of lawsuits that I can imagine:

1) If DC govt decides to end all OOB feeder rights to the WOTP schools, in order to solve the crowding problem, the practical result might be de facto segregation. Deal/Wilson, and to a lesser extent Hardy, will be very white, while the schools EOTP will be very black. I could see some (black) EOTP parents trying for a civil rights/desegregation case. Request a desegregation order, demand that students be put on buses or demand to keep the OOB feeders etc.

2) If DC decides to make WOTP MS/HS lottery with no proximity preference, or does something else to upset WOTP parents, the WOTP parents could hire lawyers steeped in DC admin and Federal review and try to find every procedural flaw that they can. This could delay the process and create time for a political campaign, but not stop the process.

I am not sure what the chances are for (1). I'm a lawyer but I don't have experience with those types of cases. Maybe someone else can comment.

Regarding (2), maybe you could succeed in making life difficult for DC for a while, but only for a while, and you are spending your own money while DC spends your tax dollars defending your suit. I think more likely than (2), if WOTP parents or high-SES parents in general feel aggrieved, maybe they could take it to Congress. DC doesn't have any votes but maybe there are some reps who are willing to make an issue out of it. Maybe you could convince Republicans that DC will become even more Democrat if bad school policy results in white flight from the city. If DC was worried that Congress might interfere (this has rarely been done), then DC might water down the proposal...

But as others have said, there is no constitutional right to neighborhood schools. Even if many of us see neighborhood schools as fundamental to the fabric of society in the US. I certainly do.

This was very helpful, thanks PP.

This is funny. "DC will become even more Democrat" "Convince Republicans".

DC is about as Democrat as it gets and Republicans have given THAT up since well... forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For example, if parts of Ward 3's kids were denied their existing right to go to Wilson high school, then DCPS would have to come up with a non-race-or-class-based reason for zoning those kids out of it. Because most would say, off the top of their heads, the real reason to move predominately white and well-off kids out of Wilson would be to move more predominately non-white-and-lower-income kids into Wilson. That's on its face an illegal discriminatory motive.

The best way for DCPS to avoid the entire controversy would be to make Wilson an all-lottery school. Which would immediately destroy the quality of Wilson as a school, but that's not the subject we're talking about here.

My understanding is that desegregation is legal. Meaning, you cannot discriminate against AAs, but it is ok to "discriminate" against whites in order to desegregate. Wasn't that the whole point of Brown v. Board? Maybe some of the recent college admission affirmative action cases have begun to change this - I don't know.

The problem with this is there's no need to desegregate Wilson. It's a very diverse school as it is. But using state policy to discriminate against one race/class, in favor of another race/class, in absence of a neutral reason for doing so, is illegal discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. It has always seemed to me AA families EOTP always had a potential case, but people getting moved out of the crowded white schools to other DCPS with space? No way. You are just a bunch of idiots.

There are two types of lawsuits that I can imagine:

1) If DC govt decides to end all OOB feeder rights to the WOTP schools, in order to solve the crowding problem, the practical result might be de facto segregation. Deal/Wilson, and to a lesser extent Hardy, will be very white, while the schools EOTP will be very black. I could see some (black) EOTP parents trying for a civil rights/desegregation case. Request a desegregation order, demand that students be put on buses or demand to keep the OOB feeders etc.

2) If DC decides to make WOTP MS/HS lottery with no proximity preference, or does something else to upset WOTP parents, the WOTP parents could hire lawyers steeped in DC admin and Federal review and try to find every procedural flaw that they can. This could delay the process and create time for a political campaign, but not stop the process.

I am not sure what the chances are for (1). I'm a lawyer but I don't have experience with those types of cases. Maybe someone else can comment.

Regarding (2), maybe you could succeed in making life difficult for DC for a while, but only for a while, and you are spending your own money while DC spends your tax dollars defending your suit. I think more likely than (2), if WOTP parents or high-SES parents in general feel aggrieved, maybe they could take it to Congress. DC doesn't have any votes but maybe there are some reps who are willing to make an issue out of it. Maybe you could convince Republicans that DC will become even more Democrat if bad school policy results in white flight from the city. If DC was worried that Congress might interfere (this has rarely been done), then DC might water down the proposal...

But as others have said, there is no constitutional right to neighborhood schools. Even if many of us see neighborhood schools as fundamental to the fabric of society in the US. I certainly do.

This was very helpful, thanks PP.

This is funny. "DC will become even more Democrat" "Convince Republicans".

DC is about as Democrat as it gets and Republicans have given THAT up since well... forever.

Of course you are right with your first statement, but as for your second, let's see. DC is becoming richer and whiter every year, and as a consequence the Republican vote must be growing steadily. Sure, the city is still very democrat, but if the current demographic trends continue we may see a consistent "independent" candidate for mayor ("independent" like Bloomberg in NYC), and maybe even a winner. This year is the first year that we'll have had a contested general for mayor since home rule, right? A sign of the times. Some DC residents refer to this as "The Plan", and while in reality it is not planned, it is certainly happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For example, if parts of Ward 3's kids were denied their existing right to go to Wilson high school, then DCPS would have to come up with a non-race-or-class-based reason for zoning those kids out of it. Because most would say, off the top of their heads, the real reason to move predominately white and well-off kids out of Wilson would be to move more predominately non-white-and-lower-income kids into Wilson. That's on its face an illegal discriminatory motive.

The best way for DCPS to avoid the entire controversy would be to make Wilson an all-lottery school. Which would immediately destroy the quality of Wilson as a school, but that's not the subject we're talking about here.

My understanding is that desegregation is legal. Meaning, you cannot discriminate against AAs, but it is ok to "discriminate" against whites in order to desegregate. Wasn't that the whole point of Brown v. Board? Maybe some of the recent college admission affirmative action cases have begun to change this - I don't know.

The problem with this is there's no need to desegregate Wilson. It's a very diverse school as it is. But using state policy to discriminate against one race/class, in favor of another race/class, in absence of a neutral reason for doing so, is illegal discrimination.

Right, but I thought that in the civil rights jurisprudence it is entire school systems that get desegregated, not individual schools? Anyone have expertise in this?

[Anonymous]

I am not attorney. I am a middle income parent IB for Janney/Deal/Wilson:

1. A quick review through Google shows that there's a multitude of lawsuits cases associated to school boundary changes from "both parts of the barricade". So I am sure a judge will want to listen to a well-constructed case by IB families.

2. There's huge number of middle income families living in the very large and tall condo buildings on Mass Avenue just south of Ward Circle, or on Cathedral between Wisconsin and New Mexico. Talking about no-frill condos, so all families have chosen the location to have access to the FAB-3 DCPS (Janney/Deal/Wisconsin)

3. These groups are already well-organized within the same building, kids share the common spaces and there's a strong sense of community .

4. I moved out from Mass Ave 4000 two years ago and still have a ton of friends over there and I can assure you that it will take nothing to start the sparkle in these communities, and raise the numbers and money needed for a strong lawsuit.

5. End of the story. DCPS and their grad-student technical advisors should be kicked out of boundary from DC as they are the sole responsible entities of this mess, of this situation of community against community, for having turned a successful story into an issue which will generate more and more hatre and anguish in parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That the loss of proximate access will result in significant financial stress for parents who now have to arrange transport to distant schools and lose having an older sibling close by so have to pay for aftercare. And that the overcrowding is artificially created in the first case.

Great. What's your
cause of action?

[Anonymous]

Well said previous poster!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That the loss of proximate access will result in significant financial stress for parents who now have to arrange transport to distant schools and lose having an older sibling close by so have to pay for aftercare. And that the overcrowding is artificially created in the first case.

Great. What's your
cause of action?

racism, jealousy, and mean-spiritedness, combined into one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a lawyer, no one could possibly say what causes of actions could be possible, and whether they'd survive, without knowing the specific government action.

As a lawyer I can tell you the chances of a law suit based on any sort of substantive ground succeeding are about zero. That gaggle of 3Ls is worth about as much as they are being paid.

Now if this is an administrative act then I am sure there are a zillion procedural requirements that could possibly be violated.

But nobody is going to win on the argument that they had some sort of constitutional property right to go to Brent.

+1 Another lawyer. Although it's a good law school exercise for 3Ls. Not my area but I remember "boundary disputes" being characterized by my law professors as *true dogs*.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Claiming compensation for private school tuiton, DCPS City-Wide HS Lottery eliminating my guaranteed access to HS with acceptable academic standards .

Great. What is your cause of action?

[Anonymous]

I want to be at the working group just to shout to the DCPS representatives my angry delusion when they will announce the the most equitable and efficient way to allocate slots in HSs is a city-wide lottery.

Those people are paid significant salaries, have a safe job, great working hours but they have made things degenerate up to the point that Wilson, one of the greatest sucesses of DCPS, has now become a battlefield between different communities.

I am a nurse at Georgetown University Hosp. I have too a good salary, and quite a safe job (but not at all a nice working hours). Can you imagine what happened to my (young) patients if I professionally performed like the DCPS gang?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claiming compensation for private school tuiton, DCPS City-Wide HS Lottery eliminating my guaranteed access to HS with acceptable academic standards .

Great. What is your cause of action?

It's a case of race/class discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Simple as that. It's not a property case like so many other boundary issues. Unless DCPS can come up with a neutral reason for the action (if it were to occur), it would be very bad for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claiming compensation for private school tuiton, DCPS City-Wide HS Lottery eliminating my guaranteed access to HS with acceptable academic standards .

Great. What is your cause of action?

Eh. Case:
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/edu/documents/grahammotion.pdf


Perhaps DC should look across the river and try magnets as part of a geographic school , GT centers with public exam schools like TJ or Stuyvesant. http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/edu/documents/guidanceelem.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That the loss of proximate access will result in significant financial stress for parents who now have to arrange transport to distant schools and lose having an older sibling close by so have to pay for aftercare. And that the overcrowding is artificially created in the first case.

Great. What's your
cause of action?

$$$ this lottery would amount to a new tax, inequitably applied

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claiming compensation for private school tuiton, DCPS City-Wide HS Lottery eliminating my guaranteed access to HS with acceptable academic standards .

Great. What is your cause of action?

Eh. Case:
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/edu/documents/grahammotion.pdf

Darn.. 3rd year law students hired by 21 Century Fund had not found this!!