On Sept. 30, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the Des Moines Public School District, accusing it of race-based hiring practices. This comes just days after the arrest of Superintendent Ian Roberts on a deportation order. However, his name does not appear in the official letter.
Similarly, on Sept. 23, the Department of Education sent an OCR Compliance Notice to the Cedar Rapids Community School District. The DOE cited the district’s partnership with academic programs to serve Black, Brown and Biracial students and a $3,000 signing bonus offered to new hires of color.
Both of these cases cited an important case, namely the Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard (2023), a landmark case that prohibited race-based admissions, essentially ruling out affirmative action. The initial reaction to this case was the end of affirmative action in postsecondary education across the nation. Now, the pushback is finally reaching K-12 schools.
“Strict Scrutiny is the most important legal standard used in race-based decisions, which means that in order for the government to offer any race classifications, the policy must be narrowly tailored and achieve a compelling government interest. If the policy does not meet this standard, then it is unconstitutional.” Says government teacher Joe Youngbauer.
When considering the different policies, districts like Cedar Rapids and Des Moines genuinely want more diversity in their staff and student population. According to studies, diverse learning environments can cause students to improve academically with better critical thinking and problem-solving skills. However, the political and legal landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years.
Under the new legal guidelines, schools would be expected to show a degree of “color-blindness” when hiring. However, if barriers to recruitment exist (unconscious bias, awareness gaps, pipeline issues), removing race as a consideration doesn’t automatically remove those barriers. These practices wouldn’t address the real issues of why the disparities exist.
“Interpretations of laws and the U.S. Constitution are not static. Schools today have to recognize how race-based policies are currently being executed and interpreted by both the Executive Branch and our legal system. Schools today have a choice to make. One, they can adjust to ensure that their policies and practices are currently aligned with this administration’s interpretation of the law and constitution. Two, they can take a stand where they oppose the administration’s interpretation of a policy and fight for what they believe is right, as well as rely on the court system to back their application of the law,” adds Youngbauer
With the question of equal protection, the real question is what America’s interpretation of equality should be. Treating all the same regardless of race disregards that people start at different places in life and identical treatment can perpetuate cycles of inequalities.
Here at PV, teachers are hired under the OCR guidelines, and a Notice of Nondiscrimination can be found on the website. “PV seems to have an equal spread of female and male teachers, but we don’t have a lot of people of color, which seems to just be a result of Bettendorf as a city, not school policy,” said junior Student Aishani Pandey.
In general, high schools across America should strive to follow the legal guidelines set by the government. But, as times change, it is important to consider what Americans should value most when it comes to equality.
