New York Law School Professor Deborah N. Archer, Director of the Law School’s Racial Justice Project, is one of the attorneys in the class action lawsuit filed Tuesday, March 18 by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida against the Palm Beach County School District today, which charges that low high school graduation rates demonstrate a violation of students’ constitutional rights to high quality education.

 

“Our public education system must at least provide students with a meaningful opportunity to graduate from high school,” Professor Archer said. “In Florida this is a constitutional right that cannot be denied because of race, gender or socio-economic status. By not graduating a third of its students, Palm Beach County is failing to provide the high quality education mandated by the Florida constitution.”

 

The lawsuit claims that the Palm Beach County School District violates the state constitution’s declaration of the “fundamental value” of educating children and the right that free public education be “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality.” It is estimated that as many as one in three Palm Beach County students does not graduate on time with a regular diploma, placing well below state and national averages. There is also a significant disparity between the graduation rates of African-American and Hispanic students compared to white students. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of parents and students in the district, and seeks for the school district to improve graduation rates without pushing students out of the school system.

 

The other attorneys in the case are Chris Hansen and Vanita Gupta of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, Muslima Lewis of the ACLU of Florida, and Ramona Hupp, ACLU Cooperating Attorney.

 

To read the ACLU’s press release, please visit: http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/edu/34509prs20080318.html.

 

The Racial Justice Project is a legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the constitutional and civil rights of people who have been denied those rights on the basis of race and to increase public awareness of racism and racial injustice in the areas of education, employment, political participation, and criminal justice. The Racial Justice Project’s advocacy includes litigation, training, and public education.