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Maryland City: Maryland (State): "The evidence is very strong that several Maryland schools use racial and ethnic admissions preferences," said CEO President Linda Chavez. There is a glaring disparity among racial and ethnic groups in the SAT scores of the students who are admitted and enrolled in Maryland schools. For instance, at the University of Maryland, College Park, the median white enrollee has a composite SAT score of 1220, 170 points higher than the black median composite score of 1050. At St. Mary's College, the white median composite is 1280, 245 points higher than the black score of 1035. The study is the latest in a series of reports by CEO on the use of preferences by public institutions of higher education. Past studies have documented the use of preferences in Virginia, California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington, and the service academies at West Point and Annapolis. In each instance, the studies found strong evidence of a double standard favoring blacks and, to a lesser extent, Hispanics. The Maryland study released today is based on 1997 data provided by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and was obtained through a freedom-of-information request by the Maryland Association of Scholars. To download the complete text of CEO's study of Maryland college racial preferences, click this link: http://www.adversity.net/ceo_maryland.doc. [This file is 890 KB and may take several minutes to download.] The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, Washington, D.C-based research and educational organization. Visit their web site at www.ceousa.org (09/27/00)
Maryland (State): "Maryland's public schools from now on will have to ensure that minority groups of students are progressing as well as the rest of the school to be eligible for cash awards from the state. "The Maryland State Department of Education each year rewards schools that show significant improvement for two or more years on the state's school report card, which is based primarily on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests all third, fifth and eighth graders take each spring. "Last year 83 public schools, including eight from Prince George's County, shared $2.75 million. All of Prince George's prizes were more than $30,000 each. "The problem that concerned educators is that minority students - primarily black and Hispanic students - have not performed as well on the MSPAP tests as white students have. 'We don't want schools to be rewarded only on the basis of white students' performance,' said Mark Moody, assistant state schools superintendent. 'Everybody has to improve.'
"So the Maryland State Board of Education yesterday changed the rules. Schools
receiving awards this fall must be helping their minority populations - defined as 10 or
more students in a particular ethnic, racial or other group - progress along with the
school's majority, the board voted unanimously." (The Journal Newspapers,
Montgomery County Edition, page A7 by Kristen Klick)
Maryland (Baltimore and College Park): U of Maryland was forced by the courts three years ago to stop awarding scholarships on the basis of race. Student Matt Hyman is one of the first non-black students to be awarded a scholarship which was originally (and unconstitutionally) reserved only for black applicants. Enrollment of unqualified minorites seems to be declining. (The Sun (Maryland) posted 8/9/98 - link no longer available) Montgomery County Schools Ordered to Stop Using Racial Criteria Maryland
(Montgomery County): "Montgomery County Board of Education members unanimously decided to take a reverse-discrimination decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, putting convictions about racial diversity ahead of legal voices urging caution. "At issue is whether Montgomery's policy of considering race and ethnicity in student transfers is constitutional. A federal appeals court panel last month ruled that it was not. "The Supreme Court could clarify whether and how school districts may use race to keep neighborhood schools from naturally resegregating--an area of law that is unclear. Or it could decide against the county or refuse to hear the case, setting a chilling precedent. [Emphasis added.] "If the Supreme Court upholds this case, the notion of diversity and integration in the United States will be turned back 30 years," said Julie Underwood, legal counsel for the National School Boards Association, who said officials in several districts across the country are watching what happens in Montgomery County. "Montgomery County's high-stakes case began last year when Jeffrey Eisenberg wanted his son, Jacob, to attend first grade in the math and science magnet program at Rosemary Hills, a school for kindergartners and first- and second-graders. "County administrators and later the school board refused to let Jacob leave his neighborhood school, Glen Haven, because he is white. "Eisenberg sued and lost in U.S. District Court. But last month, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jacob should be transferred to Rosemary Hills in Silver Spring, and struck down the board's policy governing transfers, calling it an "evil" system. [Montgomery County's race-based student assignment system is designed to maintain the 'correct' mix of the 'correct' races and genders in each school. This race-based system] "... tracks demographic trends over three years and does not allow students of a declining racial or ethnic population to transfer out of their schools. It also does not allow students to transfer to schools where the racial or ethnic mix differs from county averages.
"For example, white students such as Jacob can't transfer out of Glen Haven, where
the white population has fallen from 39 percent to 20 percent since 1994."
(Washington Post 11/03/99 page B05 by Brigid Schulte)
Maryland (Montgomery County): The Montgomery County school board this week began considering whether to appeal the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling against use of racial criteria in assigning students to schools. They have until January 2000 to file such an appeal. There have been rumors within the County that the NAACP and the U.S. Dept. of Education have expressed a keen interest in preventing the school board from appealing the Court's decision. They fear that such an appeal, if unsuccessful, would only further validate the Court's ruling and add impetus to other legal efforts to end the use of racial criteria, and proxies for racial criteria, in school admissions and transfers. In February 1999, the NAACP and the U.S. Dept. of Education successfully prevailed upon the Boston school board to drop a Supreme Court challenge on a similar issue. (See link: Boston Latin Drops Appeal to High Court) This week, Montgomery County school board member Stephen N. Abrams is reported to have suggested that the board may begin using proxies for race, such as socioeconomic status, to avoid having to comply with the Court's order. School district attorneys are cautious about that tactic, fearful that the Court might find the County in violation of the order, or would subsequently rule against using proxies for race.
The same 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year ordered nearby suburb
Arlington County Schools to drop racial criteria in student admissions. (See
link: Arlington Ordered to Drop Race)
Maryland (Mongomery County): Original Washington Post Headline: "School Diversity Policy Is Overruled; Court Says Race Can't Bar Transfer In Montgomery" STORY: "A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Montgomery County public school officials wrongly relied solely on race to deny a white couple's request to transfer their 7-year-old to another school, overturning a long-standing county policy to prevent schools from becoming racially isolated. "The ruling comes after the same 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar race-based school admissions policy in Arlington County last month and is one of a number of closely watched and politically loaded cases across the country. At issue is whether school districts can allow or deny students admission into schools, classes or special programs because of their race or ethnicity. "Jeffrey Eisenberg, father of 7-year-old Jacob and a lawyer who handled his own appeal, said he was vindicated, relieved and yet troubled by the ruling. "Race is a difficult and unsettled issue in this country. I regret being on the opposite side of the dispute of those who are trying to solve the problem," he said. "But Montgomery County's case had no merit. It's clear they now have to try to promote diversity in a race-neutral fashion."
"Last year, when Jacob was about to enter first grade, his parents sought to enroll
him in Rosemary Hills Elementary School's math and science magnet program because he was
showing a special interest in the subjects. The request was denied because of its
"impact on diversity," according to a letter the Eisenbergs
received." (Washington Post 10/07/99, Page A01, by Brigid Schulte)
Maryland (Montgomery County): "Two Washington area court cases have drawn the attention of educators and legal experts nationwide as a key test of whether public elementary and secondary schools have the right to admit and reject students based on their race. On Wednesday, attorneys for the Arlington School Board will argue before a federal appeals court in Richmond that it should overturn a judge's order barring an alternative school in the county from using an admissions system that favors black and Hispanic children. "Later this year, the same court will hear an appeal from the parents of a white Montgomery County first-grader who was told that he could not transfer to a math and science magnet program because it would leave his neighborhood school with too few white students. The cases are being watched closely, because the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on whether elementary and secondary schools can impose admissions restrictions in order to achieve racial balance, and there have been few other court rulings on the issue.
"In November, a federal appeals court ruled against an effort to limit the number of
white students at a public magnet school in Boston [See also: Boston
Latin School]. Many educators and legal observers think the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Richmond will take the same position." (Washington Post, 01/25/99,
Page B01, by Jay Mathews and Ellen Nakashima)
Maryland (Montgomery County):
"At some point -- Suzanne Rolis de Barr doesn't know exactly when -- a Montgomery
County (Maryland) school official decided her daughter Isabel was white." Ms.
Barr was furious when 8 yr. old Isabel was arbitrarily assigned to a school outside her
neighborhood because she was presumed to be 'white'. (Washington Post 11/28/98)
Maryland
(Montgomery County): Tonight, the Board of Education plans to strike a blow for diversity. No longer will it trust communities to name a new school. Instead, the board will give the community four possibilities and say, "Pick one." The reason for the policy change? "Too many dead white men. Too many nice, neutral geographic names. Too few women and minorities. And no schools named for Asian Americans. "Schools can no longer identify with a single racial or ethnic or geographic community because they're bigger and broader," said board President Reginald M. Felton (Northeastern County), a prime mover behind the name policy change. "We're not opposed to the idea of geographic names. We just think our communities can be a little more innovative." "Once before, the school board tried to broaden the horizon, mandating in the early 1990s that communities consider women and minority choices. "But when the policy expired two years ago, so did the rainbow. The next round of schools got leafy names like Silver Spring International and Shady Grove, or the uninspiring but geographically correct North Bethesda and Northwest High School.
"Indeed [neighboring] Fairfax County has had a no-people naming policy, preferring
school appellations to reflect a sense of place." (Washington Post 10/25/99
page B01 by Brigid Schulte) Prince Georges
County, Maryland END of Maryland - Racial Quotas in Education |
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