By The Editors

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) applauds the ruling of California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals  recognizing that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) may continue efforts to integrate its schools pursuant to an existing court order.

“This ruling is a key victory in the fight to ensure equal access and educational opportunities to all students,” said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel.  “School integration is a matter of paramount importance for all of society. We are glad that the Los Angeles Unified School District may continue to do what it was charged to do,”

The Court’s December 19, 2008 decision, in American Civil Rights Foundation v. Los Angeles Unified School District , rejected an attempt by the American Civil Rights Foundation (ACRF), which is led by Ward Connerly, a leading opponent of affirmative action, to block the school district’s desegregation efforts. LDF, along with several legal advocacy organizations, represented a multiracial coalition of parents in support of the school system’s efforts to provide all students with access to a diverse, quality education.

In 2007, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County ruled that the district’s Magnet School and Permits with Transportation programs are legally permissible components of the school system’s overall desegregation plan.

That decision was appealed by the ACRF, which asserted that LAUSD’s programs violated Proposition 209, which prohibits public institutions in California from granting preferences on the basis of race. The appeals court ruled that Proposition 209 did not apply to the programs because an existing court order was in place at the time Proposition 209 was passed. That 1981 court order required the school district to consider race and ethnicity as a factor in the selection of students for its magnet schools and busing programs in order to ensure its schools would be integrated. Furthermore, the appeals court wrote that the 1981 order remains in effect today, putting the school district’s programs beyond the reach of Proposition 209.