Court Limits Use of Race in School Assignments

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In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional two districts' plans that used race as a factor in assigning K-12 students to schools but allowed for some consideration of race in admissions. The court said integration plans in the Seattle and Jefferson County, Ky., districts violated the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

"For schools that never segregated on the basis of race, such as Seattle, or that have removed the vestiges of past discrimination, such as Jefferson County, the way to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis is to stop assigning students on a racial basis," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in the main opinion.

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