San Diegans Challenge Perpetual
Court Assignment of Pupils,
Emanating from Carlin v. Board of Education,
To Restore Local Control
According to the Constitution

The Board Proposes Modifications in Its Integration Plan, But Retains Underlying Racial Considerations While Disclaiming Them

On October 20, 1999, the San Diego Board advised of proposed modifications to its Integration Plan in an article by its counsel titled “A Different Approach” in the Union-Tribune:

... The district is now proposing changes that would remove a student's race / ethnicity as a criterion for eligibility to attend schools outside of the student's area of residence. The changes would encompass a system of choice and selection that avoids race-based consideration while using factors such as geography and residential patterns to continue nurturing integrated schools. The proposal would by no means lessen the district's commitment to diversity....

The Board's proposals did not meet Groundswell objections that they were not race-neutral in line with recent federal decisions. Nor did a final proposal meet the objections which the author placed before the Board on November 30, 1999.

Enstrom presented examples of objections by non-class constituents of the Board in the Carlin case opposing the future use of race / ethnicity in its integration proposal. One objection, and the basis for it, was by a minority-classified student originally excluded from a magnet school because of her race and residence, by way of a copy of her written statement to the Board:

My name is Kimberly ... I live in University City. I attend Marcy Elementary and I am in the 6th grade. Math and Reading are my best subjects but I love drama the best. I have been in a few plays at my school but I wish to be in more plays. I found out there is a special school called the School of Creative and Performing Arts. My mom sent in an application to ask if I could go but they said “No.” Then my mom sent another application to Gompers and they also said “No, I can not go.” They said I couldn't go because I am not the right color, I don't live in the right neighborhood, and I would hurt the racial balance. I think that this is not fair because God made children the same, so we should be treated the same. We
 

Carlin v. Board of Education, San Diego Unified School District,
San Diego Superior Court No. 303800 (1967-1998)
San Diego, California
 

Board of Education v. Superior Court, 61 Cal.App.4th 411 (Feb.1998)
[conclusion of Carlin v. Board of Education]
San Diego, California
 

— Handbook: Challenge Five, pages 65 - 74 —