The Supreme Court declined to hear Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence Corp. v. The School Committee for the City of Boston (Boston Parent) on Monday. The court's refusal to take up the case is bad news because it leaves unresolved a circuit split on what constitutes a violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
The Boston Parent Coalition sued the city of Boston in February 2021 for changes to the admissions process for Boston's prestigious "exam schools," which they allege were intended to decrease the number of admitted white and Asian students. These allegations are evidenced by the Exam School Admissions Criteria Working Group's "Projected Shift" chart, which accurately predicted the exam schools' altered racial composition, and by a member of the group telling the Boston School Committee that the new system would "allow our exam schools to more closely reflect the racial and economic makeup of Boston's kids," per PLF's opening brief.
