Justices Limit School Diversity Programs

Attorney Teddy Gordon and his client Crystal Meredith listen to a question during a news conference in Louisville, Ky., Thursday, June 28, 2007, after the Supreme Court ruled on the city's public school integration plan. Gordon had argued on Meredith's behalf that the Louisville system's plan was discriminatory. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke) (Ed Reinke - AP)

The Louisville case grew out of complaints from several parents whose children were not allowed to attend the schools of their choice. Crystal Meredith, a white, single mother, sued after the school system turned down a request to transfer her 5-year-old son Joshua Ryan McDonald, to a school closer to home.

Louisville's schools spent 25 years under a court order to eliminate the effects of state-sponsored segregation. After a federal judge freed the Jefferson County, Ky., school board, which encompasses Louisville, from his supervision, the board decided to keep much of the court-ordered plan in place to prevent schools from re-segregating.

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson said he was disappointed with the ruling because his city's system had provided "a quality education for all students and broken down racial barriers" for 30 years.

Deborah Stallworth, a Louisville parent who successfully sued to end court-ordered busing in 2000, said: "We send children to school to be educated, not as a social experiment."

The Seattle school district said it used race as a factor only at the end of a lengthy process in allocating students among the city's high schools. Seattle suspended its program after parents sued.

Kathleen Brose, mother of a white Seattle student who sued the district, said she felt vindicated by the decision. "We've never said we didn't like diversity," she said. "We're against discrimination. ... There's just other things they can do without discriminating."

The opinion was the first on the divisive issue since 2003, when a 5-4 ruling upheld limited consideration of race in college admissions to attain a diverse student body.

Since then, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who approved of the limited use of race, retired. Her replacement, Justice Samuel Alito was in the majority that struck down the school system plans in Kentucky and Washington.

Thursday's decision left in place the 2003 ruling.

The cases are Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, 05-908, and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 05-915.