A federal judge on Friday struck down an Arkansas school choice law,
saying race couldn't be the only factor considered in deciding whether
students could transfer between districts.
U.S. District Judge Robert Dawson said the provision of the law
dealing with race violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment and since it couldn't be separated from the rest, he was
declaring the whole thing unconstitutional.
"The State must employ a more nuanced, individualized evaluation of
school and student needs, which, while they may include race as one
component, may not base enrollment or transfer options solely on race,"
Dawson wrote.
The state had argued that the provision in the Arkansas Public School
Choice Act of 1989 was needed to preserve desegregation efforts.
Dawson's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group of parents who
argued that they should be given the option of putting their children in
the schools of their choice without the limits placed on them by the
race provision.
Andi Davis, a lawyer for the Malvern parents, said she's pleased by
the decision but had hoped the judge would only strike down the part
about race -- not the whole school choice law.
"Nobody's going to be able to transfer from any school district," she
said after a cursory reading of the judge's decision. "The school
choice is gone."
Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said he's asked his
staff to review how the ruling will affect students, parents and
districts.
"That statute is one of a few statutes in Arkansas which allows
students to attend school at a school district other than the school
district in which the student resides," Kimbrell said.
He also said the education department staff will work with the state
attorney general's office to figure out what legal steps, if any, the
department will take.
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