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Florida School Districts Targeted for Racial Bias Lawsuits

Florida School Districts Targeted for Racial Bias Lawsuits (Sterling Virginia) Two prominent civil rights organizations announced today they have sent letters to over forty Florida school districts requesting they no longer admit students to gifted/talented programs using race-based criterion. The Virginia-based Center for Equal Opportunity and the California-based American Civil Rights Institute informed the superintendents of these districts that they were in violation of the U.S. Constitution because of their use of Plan B, which allows school districts to use lower IQ scores for black, Hispanic and Native American children than they use for white and Asian children. "Using a lower IQ threshold for minority students sends a terrible message about their abilities," said ACRI chairman Ward Connerly. The Florida Department of Education has agreed to “fast track” regulatory changes to Plan B in response to a legal challenge brought by parents to the Miami-Dade School District. Two other school districts have dropped Plan B’s racial guidelines because of earlier lawsuits. Another school district, in Collier County, has already received the letter and assured CEO and ACRI that it will now use “uniform standards.”