Lawyers are close to resolving a 2015 lawsuit that claims segregated schools are preventing Twin Cities-area students of color from getting an adequate education.
Legislation related to settlement talks in Cruz-Guzman v. State of Minnesota is being drafted for consideration by the Legislature this session, according to a status report filed in the case Friday in Hennepin County District Court.
“The Plaintiffs and the State Defendants continued to make substantial progress toward resolution of any and all disputes between them through the mediation process,” wrote attorneys for the plaintiffs and the state.
“Because many of the concepts to which they have agreed require legislative action, a bill is being drafted that they expect to be considered by the Minnesota legislative bodies during the 2021 legislative session.”
The plaintiffs charge that state laws and rules, including those concerning open enrollment and charter schools, have resulted in a large number of low-performing metro schools that overwhelmingly serve students of color.
The lawsuit also attributes school segregation to decisions by the Minneapolis and St. Paul districts to adopt a community-schools model that steers students toward the schools closest to their homes.
The plaintiffs argue that integrating metro schools is the best way to close the state’s wide and persistent gaps in achievement between students of various races.
Higher Ground Academy and Friendship Academy of the Arts, two charter schools that serve nearly all-black populations, intervened in the case in hopes of preserving their exemption from state laws that require public schools to pursue integration. They disagree with the plaintiffs’ contention that their students would be better off in an integrated school than one that caters to a particular identity.
A judge in 2019 said in a preliminary ruling that the state’s charter school exemption may in fact be unconstitutional.
BUSING PROGRAM
A similar lawsuit in 1995 resulted in a 2000 settlement that created “The Choice is Yours,” a voluntary program that gave low-income students in Minneapolis free transportation and priority enrollment in suburban districts and Minneapolis magnet schools.
The legal filing Friday gave no indication what changes are being proposed to resolve the latest lawsuit.
Sen. Chuck Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, who serves on the Senate’s education committee, said Friday he hadn’t heard that elements of a settlement agreement would be coming before the Legislature. Other lawmakers who work in education did not respond to requests for comment.
The Minnesota Department Education said in a statement that they’re “still in mediation and all parties are working closely to come to an agreement that works for all parties and produces better outcomes for Minnesota’s students.”