The 1776 Project Foundation filed a federal lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, targeting a policy that allocates smaller class sizes and other benefits to schools with predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other non-white student populations.
The policy stems from 1970 and 1976 court orders requiring desegregation in LA schools.
The big picture: The lawsuit alleges the policy discriminates against white students, violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
- The group seeks a permanent injunction to stop the district from using race as a factor in school operations, funding, program advertising, or admissions.
- According to the lawsuit, while over 600 district schools are classified as predominantly non-white, fewer than 100 are not, making most benefits largely unavailable to white-majority schools.
- Students at the designated schools receive extra points for magnet school applications and benefit from smaller class sizes and required parent-teacher conferences, as established on the district’s website.
Go deeper: The 1776 Project Foundation describes its mission as promoting academic achievement and fighting progressive and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in education, primarily through supporting local school board candidates.
- The lawsuit mentions a parent whose children were denied benefits, like magnet program admission, due to attending a school not classified as predominantly non-white.
