District News Roundup

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that the rights of Cincinnati teachers are not being violated by a district policy that takes race into account in deciding teacher transfers.

The policy "is substantially related to an important government objective'' in that it is designed to keep the faculties of the city's schools racially balanced, the court said in a recent decision.

Although the policy allows the Cincinnati Board of Education to consider race in determining teacher assignments, it affects black and white teachers equally and, thus, cannot be seen as establishing racial preferences, the three-judge circuit-court panel said in upholding a decision by...