School board urges Supreme Court to decline high school admissions case

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Oct 30, 2023 View in browser   By Bianca Quilantan with help from Daniel Lippman Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Erin Wilcox speaks at a news conference outside a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va. The Pacific Legal Foundation is representing parents who allege the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminated against Asian American families when it overhauled its admissions policies. | AP THE SUPREME COURT’S NEXT ‘AFFIRMATIVE ACTION’ CASE  — The opening briefs are in for a case that seeks to overhaul admissions at one of the nation’s top public magnet high schools. — The petition is in the Supreme Court’s hands after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that the Fairfax County School Board’s admissions policy for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology does not disparately impact Asian American applicants. The appeals court reversed a lower court ruling that had found in favor of the parents suing over the policy that revised the school’s rigorous admissions process to improve the potential for underrepresented students to attend the school. — The school board removed admissions requirements, including the $100 application fee and standardized tests, and adopted a holistic review process. In response, a group of Asian American parents formed the Coalition for TJ and sued the Fairfax County School Board saying they violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because the policy discriminates against Asian American applicants. They are asking the high court to decide whether the school board violated the equal protection clause when it overhauled the admissions criteria at TJ. — Coalition for TJ received a dozen amicus briefs in support of taking up their case, including from half a dozen former Trump Education Department officials and 21 states. — Fairfax County School Board, in its opposition brief, is urging the high court to turn down the case because it only uses race-neutral policies. “Every applicant is evaluated as an individual,” the school board wrote. “No applicant receives a preference, or suffers a detriment, on account of the applicant’s race. The policy was not designed to achieve any sort of aggregate racial balance. … Reading the petition for certiorari, one would not know any of that.” — Now that the briefs are in, groups supporting the school board will have the opportunity to file briefs in support. Then the Supreme Court must make a decision on whether it will take up the case, which could shake up what race-neutral policies may be used to boost diversity in K-12 schools. IT’S MONDAY, OCT. 30. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FAFSA. Drop me a line at bquilantan@politico.com. Send tips to my colleagues Mackenzie Wilkes at mwilkes@politico.com, Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com and Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com. And follow us: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro. Are you enrolled in Biden’s “SAVE” student loan repayment program? We are examining how the program is impacting borrowers and how much it’s lowering federal loan payments. Help us investigate.   GET READY FOR POLITICO’S DEFENSE SUMMIT ON 11/14: Russia’s war on Ukraine … China’s threats to Taiwan … a war in Gaza. The U.S. is under increasing pressure to deter, defend and fight in more ways — but not everyone agrees how. Join POLITICO's 3rd Annual Defense Summit on November 14 for exclusive interviews and expert discussions on global security and the U.S.'s race to bolster alliances and stay ahead of adversaries. Explore critical topics, including international conflicts, advanced technology, spending priorities and political dynamics shaping global defense strategies. Don’t miss these timely and important discussions. REGISTER HERE.     “Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories. Driving the day BIDEN EXPECTED TO UNVEIL AI ORDER — President Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order that would direct federal agencies to monitor the risks of artificial intelligence and develop new uses for the technology while attempting to protect workers, POLITICO’s Mohar Chatterjee and Rebecca Kern report. The executive order could be issued as soon as Monday. — An Oct. 23 draft of the order called for extensive new checks on the technology, directing agencies to set standards to ensure data privacy and cybersecurity, prevent discrimination, enforce fairness and also closely monitor the competitive landscape of a fast-growing industry. The draft order was verified by multiple people who have seen or been consulted on draft copies of the document. The White House did not reply to a request to confirm the draft. — Here’s what it means for education: The order would direct the Education Department to create an “AI toolkit” for education leaders to assist them with implementing recommendations made earlier this year for using artificial intelligence in the classroom. The agency has already started working on an AI toolkit and expects to release it next spring. The draft also orders the department to develop resources, policies and guidance that “address safe, responsible, and nondiscriminatory uses of AI in education” within 365 days. Higher Education BRANDEIS CENTER PUSHES HARVARD TO ACT — The Brandeis Center is urging Harvard University to address alleged discrimination against Jewish students after a third-party investigator at Kurker Paget appointed by Harvard found that a graduate professor violated the school’s code of conduct when they “treated the Students differently on the basis of their Israeli national origin and Jewish ethnicity and ancestry,” according to the report obtained by POLITICO. The investigation was launched in response to a March complaint filed by the Brandeis Center. — The investigator found that the professor told the students they could not describe Israel as a “liberal-Jewish democracy” in a class project and that their topic was “not acceptable.” The Brandeis Center, in a legal warning sent to the school’s counsel on Monday, is urging Harvard to address the professor’s alleged discrimination, and is also using the letter to criticize the institution’s response to the student demonstrations spurred by the Israel-Hamas conflict. — “This failure, on top of other failures of leadership, have set the stage for the worsening climate that we have seen for Jewish Harvard students since [Oct. 7],” wrote the Brandeis Center, referring to events on campus in response to the Hamas-Israel conflict. “Harvard’s failure to speak out against anti-Semitism masked as anti-Zionism has only emboldened the student groups who are now celebrating Hamas’ atrocities. The silence needs to end.” — Harvard Kennedy School Dean Doug Elmendorf, in a June letter, said he accepted the investigation’s “findings of fact and conclusions regarding the violations of School policies” as final. “We need to ensure that the School fulfills these commitments and that the violations of policies that occurred this spring are addressed fully and do not recur,” he wrote at the time, adding that he would convene a group of faculty at the school to advise him on next steps. But he acknowledged that some of the “measures, such as personnel actions, may be confidential in nature.” — The Brandeis Center is urging Harvard to require faculty and staff to undergo training on antisemitism. And they want Harvard to publicly denounce the classroom incident and “student conduct celebrating the carnage that took place in Israel on October 7.” Title IX KEEP AN EYE ON TITLE IX — The Education Department was expected to unveil its Title IX final rule this month, but dozens of civil rights groups and sexual misconduct prevention groups are concerned about another delay. — Department officials in May initially delayed the rule that mandates how schools must respond to sexual misconduct to October. The department said the delay was in response to the more than 240,000 public comments received on the proposed rule. The Biden administration is also seeking to finalize its separate rule on athletics eligibility that would make sweeping bans on transgender student sports participation illegal. — With the month coming to a close in a matter of days, the advocacy groups believe a delay is imminent as the Education Department has yet to transmit the final Title IX rule to the Office of Management and Budget for its review, which can take up to 90 days. These groups want a new rule finalized before the end of the year is up. — The rule comes as several legal challenges in Title IX’s jurisdiction are moving through the courts. This month, the 4th Circuit heard a case challenging West Virginia’s ban on transgender athletes in school sports and the 9th Circuit agreed to rehear a case challenging Idaho’s transgender athlete ban en banc. And the nation’s first high-profile transgender athlete challenge in Connecticut is still in the 2nd Circuit. Movers and Shakers — The nation’s two largest teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, and the Network for Public Education, American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges and Universities signed on to a “Freedom to Learn” pledge at the Network for Public Education conference in D.C. on Sunday. The pledge outlines the groups’ support for: bills to increase federal and state funding for public education, “fighting back against legislative bans” on teaching certain topics and defending educators who face harassment, discipline or termination because of the laws. — Sean Tierney joined the Institute for Higher Education Policy as its new director of research and policy. Tierney most recently served as an associate commissioner at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, where he oversaw the postsecondary portion of the state’s longitudinal data system. — Hannah Zack has been promoted to be special assistant in the Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department. She most recently was a confidential assistant for that office. — Meghan Whittaker has been promoted to be policy adviser at the Education Department. She most recently was a special assistant.   SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.     Syllabus — Boys graduate high school at lower rates than girls, with lifelong consequences: The Associated Press — Uvalde breaks ground on new elementary school with plans to honor victims of shooting: ABC News — West Virginia school system mandates religious training following revival assembly lawsuit: CBS News Pittsburgh — Five seismic changes to education in Washington over the past decade: The Seattle Times — China passes patriotic education law for children, families: Reuters   Follow us on Twitter Delece Smith-Barrow @DeleceWrites Michael Stratford @mstratford Bianca Quilantan @biancaquilan Juan Perez Jr. @PerezJr Mackenzie Wilkes @macwilkes   Follow us

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