The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to join a federal lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles school district of discriminating against white students.<\/p>\n
At issue is a long-running effort to help disadvantaged students of color in Los Angeles by providing somewhat smaller classes to the vast majority of schools \u2014 leaving out campuses with larger numbers of white students.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit,<\/a> filed in federal court in January by the 1776 Project Foundation<\/a>, targets a decades-old effort to combat the harms of segregation without requiring families to attend integrated schools. <\/p>\n The nation\u2019s second-largest school district is acting illegally under both the California and the federal Constitution, the suit alleges. <\/p>\n The Justice Department agrees and wants to participate in the litigation because \u201cthe United States Attorney General has reviewed this action and determined it is a case of general public importance,\u201d according to the court petition filed Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case will provide relief to the Plaintiff\u2019s members but will also relieve the entire LAUSD student population of the \u2018injury\u2019 of \u2018being forced to compete in a race-based system that may prejudice the[m].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Asst. Atty. Gen. Harmeet K. Dhillon, of the department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, was among several Trump administration officials who commented in a news release. <\/p>\n \u201cLos Angeles County students should never be classified or treated differently because of their race. Yet this school district is doing exactly that by providing benefits that treat students \u2014 based on their race \u2014 as though they have learning disabilities,\u201d Dhillon said. \u201cRacial discrimination is unlawful and un-American, and this Civil Rights Division will fight to ensure that every LAUSD student is treated equally under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n An L.A. Unified spokesperson said the district \u201cremains firmly committed to ensuring all students have meaningful access to services and enriching educational opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n L.A. school board member Nick Melvoin said the Justice Department is misdirected in its perception of justice for students in its claim \u201cto champion equality in our schools.\u201d <\/p>\n He said its intervention in the suit \u201cisn\u2019t about fairness; it\u2019s part of a broader effort to roll back civil rights for our kids. The programs were designed to address real inequities and are driving historic progress for students of color and for all students. We won\u2019t be intimidated, and we will defend what works.\u201d<\/p>\n The suit claims that 600 campuses have an illegal advantage, while about 100 do not. The lawsuit alleges that students in the targeted schools receive benefits that include smaller class sizes and that they also receive preferential treatment for entry into sought-after magnet programs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe District engages in \u2014 and publicly touts \u2014 a program of overt discrimination against a new minority: White students,\u201d the lawsuit states. <\/p>\n The Trump administration action is in line with its general interpretation of anti-discrimination laws in schools, claiming that programs and services that specifically benefit students of color harm white students or others not included in the program. Under threat of losing federal funding, universities and school districts have moved to end, rename or reorganize<\/a> diversity, equity and inclusion programs. California officials are among those who are opposing the federal mandates in court.<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court has banned racial preferences in the college admissions process<\/a>, emboldening other moves against diversity efforts or programs tailored to help particular groups of students.<\/p>\n Pedro Noguera, the dean of USC\u2019s Rossier School of Education, has called litigation such as the suit filed by the 1776 Project Foundation an \u201cincreasingly common\u201d tactic from conservative groups \u201cwho want to claim reverse discrimination based on the idea that helping low-income kids of color hurts affluent white students. However, there is no empirical evidence to support this claim.\u201d<\/p>\n