A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of students and community organizations in Massachusetts argues the state is illegally maintaining schools that are racially segregated, concentrating Black and Latino students in high-poverty districts with fewer opportunities.The lawsuit challenges the state’s practice of assigning students to schools based solely on where they live, which can lead to patterns of housing segregation being replicated in school systems. The case is the latest example of efforts to address segregation and funding inequities through state-level litigation. Even before the Trump administration began taking steps to release districts in the Deep South from court-ordered desegregation efforts, integration efforts had fallen far from their peak decades ago when the federal government intervened in school systems around the U.S.
The plaintiffs include nine students and four community organizations from segregated school districts across Massachusetts, including Springfield, Holyoke, Boston, Lawrence, Brockton, Lynn, and Worcester. The districts border more affluent, predominantly white districts where the plaintiffs are unable to enroll.
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