From the August 28, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *3   JUDGE GARRITY:  IN THE SPOTLIGHT AGAIN
->    U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity, who in 1974 ordered the
-> desegregation of Boston public schools, last week ruled to admit a
-> white student to the city's prestigious Boston Latin even
-> though she was denied admission last year due to her race (multi
-> cites).  Julie McLaughlin scored as well or better than 103 black and
-> Hispanic students on the school's entrance exam, reports the
-> PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (Marcus, 8/24).  Her father, a lawyer who filed
-> the suit, expressed his pleasure at the decision to admit his
-> daughter for the duration of the suit.
->    Garrity wrote that the quota system used at Boston Latin is
-> "constitutionally suspect."  He added that "however proper it
-> once might have been," quotas now are "too broad to pass
-> constitutional muster," writes the INQUIRER.
->    Boston school officials have pledged to continue to fight
-> against the lawsuit.  "The judge has not made a final decision
-> yet," said Jane Feinberg, Boston schools spokeswoman.  "We intend to
-> defend the constitutionality of the current assignment
-> system."  School officials point out that without a preference
-> system minorities would gain only 15% of enrollment at Boston
-> Latin, even though they make up about 75% of the public school
-> population, writes the POST.
->    The case is expected to spur significant changes in Boston's
-> racial set-aside policies in place at several public schools,
-> reports the WASH POST (Sanchez, 8/24).  Boston School
-> Superintendent Thomas Payzant and others already are weighing
-> several alternatives including giving preferences to students
-> from disadvantaged families, from diverse neighborhoods, or who
-> attended public elementary schools.  Garrity suggested that the
-> school could hold a lottery among all qualified students.  "In an era
-> where race-based numerical goals are clearly in trouble with the
-> courts, there is an opening to consider other ways of
-> defining what it means to be disadvantaged," said one school
-> source to the BOSTON GLOBE (Avenoso, 8/21).
->    A switch from race-based preferences to income-based ones is
-> high on the list of alternatives and of debate among school
-> officials and legal scholars.  Income and geographic preferences are
-> "permitted even if they have a very high correlation with
-> race, provided they do not use them for discriminatory purposes,"
-> said Michael Greve, executive director of the Center for
-> Individual Rights, a Washington, D.C. public interest law firm
-> that specializes in reverse discrimination litigation (Brelis,
-> BOSTON GLOBE, 8/22).  Greve:  "If challenged by someone, the
-> School Department would have to say, 'Here is our rationale and it
-> has nothing to do with race.'  A lot would depend on the
-> details of the program, but it would be extremely difficult and
-> expensive for a plaintiff to show that there was a discriminatory
-> policy behind these characteristics."
->    However, neighboring Cambridge school officials warn Boston
-> that converting to an income-based preference system is not as
-> easy as it appears.  According to the GLOBE, income is difficult to
-> verify without breaching parents' legal rights to privacy."
-> (Avenoso, 8/22)  They add that using lists of students who
-> qualify for free and subsidized lunches is not inclusive of all needy
-> children because many are too embarrassed to apply and
-> other poor children do not qualify for the program.
->    Abigail Thernstrom, a member of the state Board of
-> Education, offered her views:  "What seems remarkable is that
-> Garrity has not said,'Enough of sorting people on any
-> characteristic.'  Use whatever criteria you want for admission, throw
-> the applications down the stairs, but have everyone meet
-> it.  If we are concerned about the performance of black and
-> Hispanic kids, why not attack that directly and do something
-> better in the way of education."
->    The BOSTON HERALD reports that given McLaughlin's suit and
-> recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions condemning affirmative action
-> plans this year, the Boston School Committee is struggling to
-> make the system "fair, equitable and responsive to the needs of the
-> community," according to one committee member, Liz Reilinger. Public
-> hearings will be scheduled after September, according to the
-> committee.
->    Boston Latin, founded in 1635, is one of the nation's oldest
-> public schools and boasts graduates including Benjamin Franklin,
-> Samuel Adams, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Leonard Bernstein.
->    BOSTON GLOBE coverage on the issue and an attitude poll on
-> quotas are available at Globe Online at http:\\www.boston.com.
-> The keyword is:  latin.
--- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 10
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