Detroit eyes Supreme Court cases

Detroit eyes Supreme Court cases Detroit eyes Supreme Court cases Activists fear return to inequality in schools December 4, 2006 BY CHASTITY PRATT FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER Activists, teachers and union members left Detroit for Washington, D.C., on Sunday to rally against two cases involving segregation in public schools that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear today. The cases involve parents in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., who say their children didn't get into the public schools of their choice because they are white. Those making the trek to Washington say they fear that if these parents win their cases, the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., which outlawed segregation in public schools, will be reversed, leading to more segregation and inequality nationwide. Michelle Gibson, a parent and organizer with the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said people in her group already fear the repercussions of last month's vote to end affirmative-action programs in Michigan's government contracts, hiring and higher education admissions. About 55 of them plan to rally and march at the Supreme Court and the Lincoln Memorial to support efforts toward desegregation. "What they're doing is trying to reverse Brown v. Board of Education, and if they do that, we go back to separate but unequal schools," Gibson said of the lawsuits. "It's necessary to uphold Brown." The Center for American Progress, a think tank based in Washington, released a report last week stating that minority students perform better in integrated schools. In the Seattle case, a high school student sought to attend a school that used race as a tie-breaker when too many students applied -- a system that ensured that the student population reflected the city's racial makeup. In Jefferson County, Ky., the school district established an enrollment plan in 2001 to ensure that schools would continue to be diverse after a judge dissolved a 30-year-old, court-ordered desegregation plan. The Supreme Court's nine justices are being asked to rule that programs using students' race as a factor in assigning them to a school violate the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equality. It will be the first time the court weighs in on racial policies since Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito joined the court. Both are former government lawyers who have not favored government-sponsored race-based policies. Alito's stance will be significant because he replaced retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. In 2003, her vote in the affirmative-action lawsuit involving the University of Michigan ensured that colleges attempting to achieve a diverse student body could consider an applicant's race. The Bush administration filed a court brief that supports the parents in the cases, stating that "the solution to addressing racial imbalance in communities ... is not to adopt race-conscious measures." Heather Miller, an organizer with the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary, said five buses of about 250 people -- mostly high school students -- left for Washington on Sunday night. "We have a unique perspective in Detroit, because we are living in the most segregated area in the country and we see the future of a Supreme Court ruling in favor of these," she said. "In the spirit of the 1950s and '60s, we're going to march through the streets and demand equality."