Supreme Court to hear new case on race and school admissions, this time in Maryland

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a new challenge to school admissions policies aimed at fostering diversity, taking up a case targeting a lottery-based process for magnet programs in a Maryland county.

The court agreed to consider an appeal filed by the Association for Equity in Education seeking to revive a lawsuit filed against the Montgomery County School Board. Montgomery County is a large and diverse county located in the suburbs of Washington.

Challengers argue that a Montgomery County STEM and Humanities magnet school policy unfairly elevates Black and Latino students in admissions, in violation of the 14th Amendment. In 2023, the Supreme Court cited the same amendment in striking down the use of race in college admissions. But this case is narrower, asking the justices to decide a more technical question about what evidence challengers need to make such a claim, so the court is unable to rule on the constitutional question.

The policy in question concerns a group of four colleges with magnet programs.

Current programs are entered by drawing lots, a system introduced during the Covid pandemic. Entry into the lottery is based on students’ test scores when ranked against other students at their school, which the plaintiffs say has a negative effect on Asian students at high-performing schools. Challengers have targeted this process, as well as one first introduced in 2017 (which was discontinued) that aimed to increase school enrollment for children in low-poverty areas.

That program, sparked by a report that Black and Latino students were underrepresented and Asian students overrepresented in Montgomery County Schools’ middle school magnet programs, included student outreach and a cognitive test.

The plaintiffs claim that both programs explicitly aimed to increase black and Latino enrollment, thereby violating the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Since the court’s 2023 ruling, conservatives, including members of the court, have accused colleges and schools of trying to circumvent the ruling by introducing new admissions policies that serve the same purpose but do not explicitly consider race as a factor.

Similar cases have been brought to court, but judges have refused to hear them.

A federal judge in Maryland and the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals both ruled in favor of the school district.

This is the second time in recent years that the court has heard a case challenging Montgomery County Public Schools policies. Last year, the court ruled in favor of parents who objected, on religious grounds, to LGBTQ-themed books approved for use in elementary school classrooms.