A federal lawsuit has been filed against Portland Public Schools, challenging a long-standing policy that allocates additional staff and funding to schools with higher concentrations of students from specific racial and ethnic groups. The suit, brought by a parent and a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, argues the practice is discriminatory and violates constitutional rights.
The legal challenge also targets a recent change to the district's fundraising rules, which centralized parent donations in a move officials said was intended to promote equity across its 81 schools.
Key Takeaways
- A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court against Portland Public Schools' equity-based staff allocation model.
- The policy, in place since 2013, provides 2% more funding to schools with more Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Native American students.
- The legal challenge claims the practice violates the 14th Amendment and the U.S. Civil Rights Act.
- The district's new centralized fundraising system, which replaced individual school foundations, is also being contested.
Lawsuit Targets Long-Standing Equity Model
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Individual Rights on behalf of Glencoe Elementary parent Richard Raseley, takes direct aim at a core component of the district's budgeting process. Since 2013, Oregon's largest school district has used a formula to distribute resources that it says is designed to support students who have historically faced academic disadvantages.
This legal action comes amid a shifting national landscape following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2023 decision to end the consideration of race in college admissions. Similar challenges to race-based policies in K-12 education are emerging across the country.
The Heart of the Dispute: A Decade-Old Formula
The district's policy provides approximately 2% in additional funding to elementary and K-8 schools. This funding is directly tied to the percentage of students enrolled from specific demographic groups, including Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Native American students.
The formula also considers students in special education programs and those learning English. The extra funds are used to hire more teachers and support staff, effectively increasing staffing levels at schools with higher numbers of students from these designated groups.
How the Funding Works
The policy's stated goal is to address persistent achievement gaps between students of color and their white and Asian peers. Proponents argue it provides necessary resources to schools serving communities with fewer private resources for tutoring, enrichment, and academic support. The lawsuit, however, contends that this amounts to unconstitutional racial preference in the allocation of public resources.
High schools within the district also receive equity-based funding, but their formula is different. It is based solely on the percentage of students whose families qualify for government assistance programs, a metric tied to economic status rather than race.
Fundraising Policy Also Under Fire
The lawsuit doesn't stop at the staffing formula. It also challenges a 2023 decision by the Portland school board to overhaul how parent-led foundations can raise and spend money.
Previously, individual school foundations could raise funds directly from parents and community members. Under that system, a foundation could keep two-thirds of all money raised above $10,000 for its own school. The remaining third went into a shared pool that was redistributed to other schools across the district.
A Tale of Two Systems
The old fundraising model generated between $2 million and $4 million annually. However, it created large disparities. Schools in wealthier, often whiter, neighborhoods could raise and keep tens of thousands, or even six-figure sums, while schools in other areas received smaller grants that topped out around $15,000.
The Shift to a Centralized Model
Citing these equity concerns, the school board voted in 2023 to eliminate the individual foundations. In their place, it established a single, districtwide foundation to collect all donations and distribute them more evenly.
However, the new system has faced significant challenges. In its first year of operation, the districtwide foundation raised only about $600,000. This represents a steep decline from the millions raised annually under the previous model, raising questions about its long-term financial viability and impact on school resources.
Constitutional Questions and Community Impact
The legal challenge argues that allocating resources based on race violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and the U.S. Civil Rights Act. The plaintiff's legal team includes former Republican State Representative Julie Parrish, signaling a politically charged dimension to the case.
The outcome of this lawsuit could have profound implications for Portland Public Schools and potentially set a precedent for other districts across the nation that use similar models to address educational disparities. The case forces a direct confrontation between policies designed to remedy historical inequities and a legal framework that is increasingly skeptical of any race-based classifications.
For now, the district must navigate the legal proceedings while managing the practical effects of its new, less lucrative fundraising system. The debate highlights the complex and often contentious intersection of funding, equity, and law in public education.