(NAME-MCE) Kentucky Loses Racial Quota for Teachers

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Published: March 26, 2008

Kentucky Loses Racial Quota for Teachers

By The Associated Press

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/03/26/08kyquota_ap.h19.html?tmp=2139558583

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Jefferson County Public Schools officials say they will no
longer consider race when hiring or transferring teachers, ending the
district's long-standing policy of dispersing minority teachers among the
schools.

District personnel director Bill Eckels says the decision was made because
there was no way to enforce the policy. A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court
last year rejected a similar district policy of using race to determine
student assignment on the same grounds.

The teacher assignment policy had required that most Jefferson County
schools maintain their percentages of black instructors between 7 and 22
percent, depending on the grade level.

The policy, also called the "Singleton Ratio," was named after a 1960s
desegregation lawsuit and used in Jefferson County since the 1970s.

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Jefferson County schools drop racial ratio for teachers
Jefferson yields in face of lawsuit
By Chris Kenning • ckenning at courier-journal.com • March 26, 2008

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803260759

Faced with a lawsuit they say they couldn't win, officials with Jefferson
County Public Schools say they will no longer consider race when hiring or
transferring teachers.

The decision ends the district's longstanding policy of dispersing its
limited number of black teachers among all schools.

"After consulting a variety of experts, we determined there was no way to
enforce it," said district personnel director Bill Eckels, citing last
year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling rejecting the district's policy of
similarly using race in determining student assignment.

The demise of the so-called "Singleton Ratio," which was named after a 1960s
desegregation lawsuit and used in Jefferson County since the 1970s, is part
of a confidential settlement between the district and Laukhuf Elementary
teacher Lorraine Hill.

The teacher assignment policy had required that most Jefferson County
schools maintain their percentages of black instructors between 7 and 22
percent, depending on the grade level.

In September 2007, Hill filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the district's
policy had unconstitutionally denied her interviews and a transfer to Cane
Run or Wellington elementary schools, which already had too many black
teachers.

The lawsuit was dismissed last week in Louisville's U.S. District Court as
part of the settlement.

Teddy Gordon, Hill's lawyer, who would not discuss the case yesterday, has
said the district's policy was continuing to "discriminate, especially
against African Americans."
Hill could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Some educators fear that the change could lead to an eventual "segregation
of teachers" in some schools, said Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson
County Teachers Association, who argues that the former policy improved
learning and provided key role models for all students.

Others said yesterday they were uncertain of the fallout.

"I'm concerned," said school board member Linda Duncan.

"But I don't anticipate a big number wanting to transfer," at least not
immediately, she said.

District officials say they'll keep working hard to recruit minority
teachers, and they recently urged principals to make teacher diversity a
priority.
But there will no longer be any districtwide rule to enforce it.

Eckels said the policy's loss was "very bad for the district."

Gordon and Byron Leet, the lead attorney for the school district, declined
to disclose settlement details.

Duncan said board members were told that monetary damages were to be paid
out, but she could not name the amount.

It's the latest legal victory for Gordon, who also represented Crystal
Meredith, the parent whose lawsuit led to the U.S. Supreme Court's historic
ruling last year limiting the use of race in student assignments.

Since that ruling, Gordon has twice forced the Jefferson County school
district to curtail its use of race -- once with traditional-school
assignment zones and now with teacher assignments.

The Singleton Ratio -- part of court-ordered desegregation that the district
had voluntarily continued -- required that the percentage of black teachers
within a school remain within 5 percentage points of the elementary, middle
or high school averages.

Officials defended the policy as a crucial way to spread out the benefits of
diverse faculties.

In Jefferson County, roughly 35 percent of students are black but only about
15 percent of teachers are black.

District data showed that the percentage of black teachers earlier this
school year was as high as 29 percent at Wheatley Elementary and as low as 7
percent at Eastern High.

Teacher union officials said that complaints were rare, but did occasionally
flare up when teachers were barred from transferring as a result of the
policy.

The union supported the policy, and it was part of its contract.

But with the lawsuit pending, the union and the district sought the advice
of National Education Association lawyers and other experts, who said the
practice likely would not hold up in court, Eckels and McKim said.

Although the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling only addressed the use of race
in assigning students, not teachers, NEA lawyers said that the policy would
likely face a losing battle.

"There are still arguments to be made that a Singleton-type plan would pass
muster, but it's whether you want to spend the time and money fighting it,"
said Michael Simpson, assistant general counsel for the NEA.

The NEA also said the union could even be liable for damages, McKim said.

The change is expected to have an impact beginning with the 2008-09 school
year, since principals will start hiring teachers as soon as next month.

Eckels said there are no plans to find alternative ways to disperse black
teachers.

Dan Withers, principal of Central High School, where more than 80 percent of
students are black, said he has been "irritated" in the past that he can't
hire qualified black teachers because of the ratio.

But he also understood that it was for the good of other schools, he said.

"The real challenge is to increase the overall number African-American
teachers," he said.

Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at (502) 582-4697.