School district settles teacher’s race discrimination suit
Faced with a lawsuit they say they couldn't win, officials with Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) say they will no longer consider race when hiring or transferring teachers. The demise of the so-called “Singleton Ratio,” which was named after a 1960s desegregation lawsuit and used in Jefferson County since the 1970s, is part of a confidential settlement between the school district and Laukhuf Elementary teacher Lorraine Hill. The teacher assignment policy had required that most JCPS schools maintain their percentages of black instructors between 7% and 22%, depending on the grade level. In September 2007, Hill filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the district's policy had unconstitutionally denied her interviews and a transfer to Cane Run or Wellington elementary schools, which already had too many black teachers. The lawsuit was dismissed last week in Louisville's U.S. District Court as part of the settlement.
Teddy Gordon, Hill's lawyer, who would not discuss the case yesterday, has said the district's policy was continuing to “discriminate, especially against African Americans.” Some educators fear that the change could lead to an eventual “segregation of teachers” in some schools, said Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, who argues that the former policy improved learning and provided key role models for all students. Others said they were uncertain of the fallout. “I'm concerned,” said school board member Linda Duncan. “But I don't anticipate a big number wanting to transfer,” at least not immediately, she said. District officials say they'll keep working hard to recruit minority teachers, and they recently urged principals to make teacher diversity a priority. But there will no longer be any districtwide rule to enforce it. Eckels said the policy's loss was “very bad for the district.”
The Singleton Ratio—part of court-ordered desegregation that the district had voluntarily continued—required that the percentage of black teachers within a school remain within 5 percentage points of the elementary, middle or high school averages. Officials defended the policy as a crucial way to spread out the benefits of diverse faculties. Teacher union officials said that complaints were rare, but did occasionally flare up when teachers were barred from transferring as a result of the policy. The union supported the policy, and it was part of its contract. But with the lawsuit pending, the union and the district sought the advice of National Education Association lawyers and other experts, who said the practice likely would not hold up in court, Eckels and McKim said. Although a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling only addressed the use of race in assigning students, not teachers, NEA lawyers said that the policy would likely face a losing battle. "There are still arguments to be made that a Singleton-type plan would pass muster, but it's whether you want to spend the time and money fighting it," said Michael Simpson, assistant general counsel for the NEA. The NEA also said the union could even be liable for damages, McKim said.
Eckels said there are no plans to find alternative ways to disperse black teachers.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal, 3/26/08, By Chris Kenning
[Editor’s Note: For background on this suit and on how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in PICS v. Seattle School District No. 1 has played out in Jefferson County, as well as resources for school officials on diversity efforts, see below.]
NSBA School Law pages on filing of lawsuit
NSBA School Law pages on Louisville student assignments