Louisville Courier Journal Editorial Proclaims Kentucky Court Of Appeals Ruling In Jefferson Public Schools (JCP) Case "Flawed"; But The Flaw Resides In The Editorial Instead.
Editorial | Flawed ruling
The state Court of Appeals ruling Friday that strikes down the Jefferson County Public Schools’ student-assignment plan was as predictable as it was deplorable.
Indeed, two of the judges had telegraphed their views with intemperate questions and personal opinions during oral arguments in August. Judge Kelly Thompson, who wrote the majority opinion for the divided three-judge panel, had urged the district on that occasion to drop its diversity plan as a failed “social experiment” that hadn’t raised test scores.
That may be his viewpoint, and it would be instructive to hear it if he were running for the local school board. (One hopes, however, that it would also be exposed as foolish. Jefferson County’s schools across the district are far better than they were in the unlamented days of de facto racial segregation before 1975, and recent test scores do show improvement — dramatically in some cases.)
As it is, however, the subjective views of Judge Thompson and Judge Michael Caperton should have had no place in their legal judgments, as dissenting Judge Sara Combs stressed. Judge Combs, who noted the harsh tone of her colleagues’ questions, said it would have been better to bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Legally, there is a genuine issue — a 1976 state law, probably intended to bypass the federal school desegregation order, that said parents could “enroll their children for attendance” at the nearest public school. That clause wasn’t enforced because it was superseded at the time by the federal court ruling. In 1990, as part of the KERA reforms, the state statute was changed to allow parents to enroll their children at the nearest school, but the words “for attendance” were deleted.
While the issue will be argued further, that change is strong evidence that the General Assembly meant to assert that there is no right to attend the nearest school. JCPS Superintendent Donna Hargens, board chairman Steve Imhoff and the district’s attorneys are correct to insist that the present plan is legal and to press on to the Supreme Court to overrule the appellate finding.
As both a matter of practicality and values, the type of system preferred by the dissatisfied parents who brought the lawsuit before the state courts would wreak chaos. It would toss aside a decades-long struggle to offer equal educational opportunity to all Jefferson County children. And it would be a nightmare to implement, since “local schools” would overwhelm the capacity of many suburban schools and would eviscerate the district’s carefully crafted network of magnet schools.
Louisville must hope the Supreme Court gets this one right.
The state Court of Appeals ruling Friday that strikes down the Jefferson County Public Schools’ student-assignment plan was as predictable as it was deplorable.
Indeed, two of the judges had telegraphed their views with intemperate questions and personal opinions during oral arguments in August. Judge Kelly Thompson, who wrote the majority opinion for the divided three-judge panel, had urged the district on that occasion to drop its diversity plan as a failed “social experiment” that hadn’t raised test scores.
That may be his viewpoint, and it would be instructive to hear it if he were running for the local school board. (One hopes, however, that it would also be exposed as foolish. Jefferson County’s schools across the district are far better than they were in the unlamented days of de facto racial segregation before 1975, and recent test scores do show improvement — dramatically in some cases.)
As it is, however, the subjective views of Judge Thompson and Judge Michael Caperton should have had no place in their legal judgments, as dissenting Judge Sara Combs stressed. Judge Combs, who noted the harsh tone of her colleagues’ questions, said it would have been better to bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Legally, there is a genuine issue — a 1976 state law, probably intended to bypass the federal school desegregation order, that said parents could “enroll their children for attendance” at the nearest public school. That clause wasn’t enforced because it was superseded at the time by the federal court ruling. In 1990, as part of the KERA reforms, the state statute was changed to allow parents to enroll their children at the nearest school, but the words “for attendance” were deleted.
While the issue will be argued further, that change is strong evidence that the General Assembly meant to assert that there is no right to attend the nearest school. JCPS Superintendent Donna Hargens, board chairman Steve Imhoff and the district’s attorneys are correct to insist that the present plan is legal and to press on to the Supreme Court to overrule the appellate finding.
As both a matter of practicality and values, the type of system preferred by the dissatisfied parents who brought the lawsuit before the state courts would wreak chaos. It would toss aside a decades-long struggle to offer equal educational opportunity to all Jefferson County children. And it would be a nightmare to implement, since “local schools” would overwhelm the capacity of many suburban schools and would eviscerate the district’s carefully crafted network of magnet schools.
Louisville must hope the Supreme Court gets this one right.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 1:11 PM
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