| > I'm not certain that the Civil Rights Act comes into play here, though. But it does. This person wants to attend a particular school, but that school violates her civil rights as a precondition for attendance. It's a clear violation of the civil rights rulings that were handed down in the 1960s. It would be like requiring people to take a literacy test before voting, but only in particular places. Beyond the civil rights implications, it violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause > The problem there is that the government were mandating that people had to go to different schools just based on their skin color. Yes, but that's coincidental to the legal issues. If the people in question had been women, or another minority, or of a particular religious persuasion, or any number of other traits, the same laws would apply. Race has always been coincidental to the legal arguments. > On the other hand, magnet schools are inherently and legally discriminatory; they discriminate on talent. Sometimes true, but a red herring in this case, because the girl is qualified to attend. Because she is qualified, her civil rights become the issue. > Magnet high schools are not a right. Actually if it's a public school, yes, it's a right. The reason? If a particular person is qualified to attend this publicly funded institution, then any other equally qualified person should be able to attend also, and if not, the school had better have an excellent reason why not. If it were a private school, the rules would be different, but this is a publicly funded school, therefore constitutional protections are in force. |