On June 28, 2007
the United Stated Supreme Court decided – in the cases of
Parents Involved in Community
Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education –
that although school assignments may not be based solely or primarily
on race, there is still a compelling interest in achieving
diversity in our schools.
As Justice
Kennedy wrote in his decision at the time:
“This
nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its
historic commitment to creating an integrated society
that ensures equal opportunity for all of its children.
A compelling interest exists in avoiding racial
isolation, an interest that a school district in its
discretion and expertise may choose to pursue ... The
decision today should not prevent school districts from
continuing the important work of bringing together
students of different racial, ethnic, and economic
backgrounds.”
In other words, the Supreme
Court upheld that while race conscious measures could be
used to diversify schools, race could not be the only
factor in an individual student’s school assignment.
Other factors – such as socio-economic status – would
also have to be considered.
Des
Moines Public Schools is one of five districts in Iowa
with a desegregation plan. The school district is in the
process of making changes by March 1 to its
between-district open enrollment plan as well as taking
a long-term approach to how students are assigned to
schools within the district.
Following the Supreme Court's
decision the Iowa Department of Education, on November 14, proposed
changes to amend Chapter 17 of the Iowa Administrative Code
on “Open Enrollment.”
Rather than defining “minority
student” solely in terms of race (which was the definition prior to June 28, 2007), the
change would allow
eligible districts to define the term for themselves as long
as race is not the sole or determinative factor. The
proposed rules outline the options available to a district
in determining how to define “minority student,” which
could include socio-economic status (SES) and English
Language Learners (ELL).
Only school districts that
already had a
desegregation plan in effect are
eligible to submit what is now known as a “diversity plan.”
In addition to Des Moines, those Iowa school districts are Davenport,
Postville, Waterloo and West Liberty.
On February 6, the Iowa Department of
Education formally adopted their new rules, which require any eligible district
whose school board desires to adopt a voluntary diversity
plan for open enrollment to do so by March 1, 2008.
The Des Moines
School Board discussed this issue at their January 22
and February 7 meetings. A series of
community forums will be held on this topic (see
right-hand column for details); the School Board is
tentatively scheduled to decide whether or not to adopt a
diversity plan at their February
19 meeting.
