Supreme Court to Hear Case on Race in Middle School Admissions

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a case concerning the role of race in middle school admissions, three years after restricting affirmative action in college admissions. The case challenges the admissions policies of four selective middle schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, a diverse suburb of Washington, D.C.

A group of parents argues that the district's admissions policy is designed to increase the admission of Black and Latino students while disadvantaging Asian American students. The Supreme Court will determine if the parent group, the Association for Education Fairness, has presented sufficient evidence of discrimination for the lawsuit to proceed.

The case stems from a change in admissions policies implemented about a decade ago. Following a review by a consulting group, the school district altered its admissions process to include the poverty levels of students' schools. Consequently, the proportion of Asian American students, who were predominantly in affluent, high-performing schools, decreased.

The parent group filed a lawsuit in 2020. The school system, which serves over 150,000 students, subsequently modified its admissions practices by removing an in-person exam. Currently, students are admitted to a lottery based on their standardized test scores. However, students from more affluent schools, where Asian American students are concentrated, need higher test scores to be eligible for the lottery.

Previously, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss the case. The appellate court cited that the parent group failed to demonstrate harm to Asian American students, as their admission rates still exceeded their representation in the applicant pool. This ruling relied on a precedent set in a different case involving admissions to a selective magnet high school in Virginia, where Asian American students were found to be overrepresented relative to the applicant pool.

Attorneys for the Montgomery County parents contend that comparing a targeted racial group's representation against the applicant pool is insufficient. They argue that other evidence of discrimination should be considered. In their appeal to the Supreme Court, they stated that the applicant pool benchmark allows the government to meet specific racial targets without facing scrutiny for discriminatory intent, provided race is not explicitly mentioned in the process.

The school system maintains that the revised admissions policy, known as the Pandemic Plan, is race-neutral. Attorneys for the school system argued in a brief that the plan is a "colorblind lottery" and that its history and purpose are not unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the coming months.