High Court Won’t Hear Race Appeal

K-12 schools are free to try diversity plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined an opportunity last week to rule on the constitutionality of a school district’s policy of weighing race as a factor in assigning students to schools. It has sidestepped a potentially thorny sequel to its 2003 rulings on affirmative action in higher education and left several lower-court rulings as the best available road map for districts that want to promote racial diversity with minimal legal risks.

The court on Dec. 5 refused to hear an appeal in Comfort v. Lynn School Committee (Case No. 05-348), a lawsuit involving a challenge by parents to a Massachusetts school district’s voluntary integration program. It was the first of several chances the justices may have in their 2005-06 term to examine districts’ voluntary consideration of race.

Although it is not clear how many districts have adopted voluntary integration plans, some are in districts that have been released from court-ordered desegregation plans and have since adopted voluntary plans. In September, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that 328 districts nationwide were operating under court-supervised desegregation plans to which the U.S....