(NAME-MCE) Civil rights complaint filed against DeKalb schools Decatur GA

[Anselmo Villanueva]

A parent has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the DeKalb
County School System, alleging discrimination against black students.

By  Megan Matteucci   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/civil-rights-complaint-filed-345054.html

The parent and In My Shoes-The National Parent Education Center filed the
complaint Friday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil
Rights.

“The complaint is under evaluation to determine if the allegations are
appropriate for OCR investigation and resolution,” said Jim Bradshaw, a
spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education.

The complaint alleges DeKalb’s International Baccalaureate program for
middle school students, which is for high-achievers, is geared toward white
children, Bradshaw told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.

“Specifically, the complaint alleges that during the 2009-2010 school year,
only one middle school, located in the northern section of the DeKalb County
School System, has an IB program,” Bradshaw said, “and, that the
predominantly non-African-American students who live in that school's
attendance area were given first priority to the IB program.”

The Department of Education said it hopes to evaluate the allegations by the
end of the month.

School board chairman Tom Bowen and district spokesman Dale Davis said they
had not received notice of the complaint.

“DeKalb is one of the most – if not the most – diverse school system in the
state of Georgia,” Bowen said. “We work hard to make sure none of our
policies are discriminatory in any shape, form, or fashion because we want
to make sure we provide equal access to quality education for all of our
students.”

The district offers the international baccalaureate program at only one of
its 20 middle schools -- Shamrock Middle School, which is the northern end
of the county. The complaint argues that the school caters to white
students.

Georgia Department of Education enrollment figures for the current school
year show that 50 percent of Shamrock Middle’s students are black, 21
percent are white, 13 percent are Hispanic and 11 percent are Asian.

Under board policy, DeKalb gives first preference to students who are in
Shamrock’s attendance zone and then offers the remaining seats to other
students through a lottery. Parents of students outside the attendance area
must provide their own transportation.

“It’s clear cut racial discrimination,” said Phyllis Austin, founder and CEO
of In My Shoes-The National Parent Education Center. “Because they don’t
have any programs on south end, they should get equal access. They didn’t
even put this child in the lottery. They just said you live out of zone and
you can’t go there.”

The non-profit center, which works with parents across the country, filed
the complaint on behalf of the DeKalb parent. Austin declined to release the
complaint or identify the parent, saying the parents want to protect the
identity of the child.

Bowen said the district did not select the schools with the program based on
location, but the principals of those schools had expressed interest in the
program. He said the district had planned to add the program to two more
schools, but it was put on hold because of budget problems. The school
system is facing an $88 million shortfall.

The parent filed an appeal with the school board last year, and the appeal
was denied, Austin said.

“The state board of education looked at it and said the child was allowed to
attend the school that meets the educational needs of the child,” said
Austin, a former DeKalb and Atlanta teacher. “But the educational needs of
this student are not available at their local school.”

Since the district accepts federal funds, it is obligated to provide equal
services to all children, Austin said.

“It’s unbelievable that it’s 2010 and we actually have to rely on the Office
of Civil Rights to get access to great education programs,” Austin said.

Board member Eugene Walker said he was unaware of the complaint but does not
believe the district discriminates by race.

“Clearly we had a history of discrimination at one time, but we spent many
years working to correct that and I think we have made great progress,” he
told the AJC.

The international baccalaureate program requires participants to study
languages and other cultures. It is also offered at three elementary schools
and three high schools in DeKalb.