Supreme Court to Review Race-Conscious Admissions in Maryland Middle Schools

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case concerning the role of race in admissions to selective Maryland middle schools. A group of parents has filed a lawsuit alleging that the admissions policies discriminate against Asian students in favor of Black and Latino students.

The Supreme Court announced on Monday its decision to review the parents' plea regarding four academically rigorous “magnet” schools in Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, DC, located in the neighboring state of Maryland. The high court will examine whether the parent group has presented sufficient evidence of discrimination to allow the case to proceed. Previously, lower courts had dismissed the case, citing that Asian-American students were not underrepresented at these specialized-curriculum schools when compared to the applicant pool.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the parent group, identified as the Association for Education Fairness, the lawsuit could be revived. Arguments are anticipated in the coming months, with a ruling expected by June.

‘The Pandemic Plan’

The Montgomery County school district introduced its current selection process for the 2021-2022 school year, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. This process involves screening all students for academic potential, followed by a lottery to randomly assign students from the qualified pool to receive enriched instruction at either a magnet school or a local school.

The lawsuit contends that this screening process creates barriers for Asian-American students, who the challengers claim are concentrated in “high-performing, low-poverty elementary schools,” making it more difficult for them to enter the lottery pool. A component of the process involves ranking a student's performance by comparing their test scores to those of other students with similar family incomes.

The plaintiffs argued in their appeal to the Supreme Court that, under the applicant pool benchmark, “the government can set specific racial targets, hit them, and avoid even an inquiry into discriminatory intent,” provided race is not explicitly mentioned in the process.

Previously Thrown Out

In 2022, US District Judge Paula Xinis dismissed the case. Judge Xinis noted that the proportion of admitted Asian-American students surpassed the proportion of Asian Americans among all applicants to the magnet schools. Furthermore, Xinis found no evidence that the lottery policy was implemented with discriminatory intent.

The school system has maintained that the new admissions policy, dubbed the “Pandemic Plan” due to its timing, is race-neutral. Lawyers representing the school system argued in a brief urging the Supreme Court not to hear the case that, “The Pandemic Plan is a colorblind lottery.” They further stated, “Nothing about the Pandemic Plan, its history, or its purpose is offensive to the Constitution.”

The Supreme Court justices are now tasked with considering whether a group alleging harm from a race-neutral policy must demonstrate disproportionate harm to prove intentional discrimination.