Should public funds be used for (semi) private academies? Dept. of Justice steps in to delay approval of school maps that draw disproportionately from white areas for new, publicly-funded high school with swimming pool, orchestra pit, and black box theater. The Washington Post reports this morning: The letter, which comes from the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department, noted that the new school’s proposed boundaries would create a school with a projected enrollment of 37 percent minority students while some of the surrounding schools have minority enrollments that range from 50 to 90 percent. It noted that the proposal calls for a noncontiguous boundary and appears to assign some students to a high school that is not the closest one to their homes. The letter asked the school district to provide additional information to “ensure its compliance with federal civil rights laws.” It listed 17 requests for information or documents, including detailed descriptions of its process for establishing the initial boundary recommendations; any changes that have been made; the minutes of public meetings related to the boundaries; the names of any advisers, officials and consultants involved in the process; and projected impacts on bus routes and demographics. MORE: washingtonpost/local/education/pr-william-board-vote-on-high-school-boundaries-delayed-pending-doj-inquiry/2014/06/03/dc6b5424-eb50-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 13:05:14 +0000