The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a case challenging Boston Public Schools using a student’s ZIP code as a factor for admission in an attempt to admit more nonwhite students.
The case alleges white students were unfairly discriminated against after several prestigious schools within the district created a quota for admitting students from different ZIP codes rather than basing admission on the students’ academic performance, leading to decreased white enrollment. Several schools have created alternative admissions policies in an attempt to sidestep the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that banned the use of race as a factor for admission into schools.
“Every student should have an equal opportunity to succeed based on their merit, not where they live or the color of their skin,” Chris Kieser, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, who represents the case, said. “Boston Public Schools’ use of a ZIP Code quota as a naked proxy for race violates the Constitution’s promise of equal protection. Regardless of today’s disappointment, the government’s use of skin color or ethnicity to choose who can attend public schools is a critical constitutional question that must be settled.”
The Supreme Court in 2023 ruled that affirmative action policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by unfairly discriminating against students based on race. Students for Fair Admissions alleged in the case that Asian students were being unfairly discriminated against due to policies that prioritized race over academic achievement in admission decisions. (RELATED: Federal Complaint Filed Against Major School District Over ‘Segregated’ Teacher Trainings On Racism)
Asian enrollment at several institutions climbed drastically after the Court’s affirmative action ruling, though several institutions such as Brown and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have recently come under fire for allegedly attempting to skirt the decision. The schools publicly proclaimed their commitment to preserving diversity despite the Court by creating targeted campaigns and doing direct outreach to nonwhite students in an attempt to artificially gerrymander their student bodies.
“We have now twice refused to correct a glaring constitutional error that threatens to perpetuate race-based affirmative action in defiance of Students for Fair Admissions,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent from the Court’s denial of certiorari. “I would reject root and branch this dangerously distorted view of disparate impact.”
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