Supreme Court to hear a new case on race and school admissions, this time in Maryland

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a new challenge to school admissions policies aimed at fostering diversity, taking up a case targeting a lottery-based process for magnet programs in a Maryland county.

The court agreed to take up an appeal brought by the Association for Education Fairness seeking to revive a lawsuit it filed against the Montgomery County Board of Education. Montgomery County is a large and diverse county in the suburbs of Washington.

The challengers argue that a policy in Montgomery County's STEM and humanities magnet schools unfairly elevates Black and Latino students for admission in violation of the 14th Amendment. In 2023, the Supreme Court cited the same amendment in striking down the use of race in college admissions. But this case is narrower, asking the justices to decide a more technical question of what evidence challengers need to bring such a claim, so the court is not poised to issue a ruling on the constitutional issue.

The policy in question concerns a group of four middle schools with magnet programs.

The current programs are entered via lottery, a system introduced during the Covid pandemic. Entry to the lottery is based on how well…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business