Walla Walla Schools Are Violating State's New Anti-Discrimination Law
1999-17
Initiative 200, the state’s newest civil rights law, is being violated by Walla Walla’s public school system. The new law, passed by voters last November, bars any government entity from granting preferences or discriminating against any person based on race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin. In Walla Walla County voters passed the measure by an overwhelming 67%.
That result makes it all the more surprising that the county’s School District continues to use preferential treatment based on race, often in a way that favors whites, for assigning students to schools.
The Walla Walla School District is located in rural southeastern Washington. Currently, the district has 5,700 students enrolled in its system of 10 schools. The district's general fund operating budget is $38,305,000 million annually. The district spends about $6,500 a year to educate each student.
The majority of the students in the Walla Walla School District are white, comprising nearly 72 percent of the all enrollees. Hispanics make up the largest non-white group of students (24 percent). Students of other races make up the remaining four percent of those attending school in the District.
The conflict with the new civil rights law occurs with the District’s open enrollment process. The “Administrative Procedures” policy lists four priorities for ranking the school enrollment requests parents make for their children. Contrary to the voters’ intent, the first priority consideration is given to the race of the student. The policy reads as follows:
Priority 1: “Those students residing within the Walla Walla School District whose open enrollment will improve racial balance among the schools," will have priority to enroll at the selected school.
The District’s explanation of the open enrollment process lays out the reasoning for using race to make choices among students:
“As part of the district's plan to address the issue of racial imbalance among elementary schools, those students whose open enrollment improves the racial balance among the elementary schools will receive ‘home school status’ at the receiving school. If space permits, the child may return to his/her attendance area school and shall be treated the same as students who reside in that attendance area in terms of his /her right to attend the school. This option must be exercised during the Spring open enrollment period."[1]
In contrast, the other three assignment priorities are race-neutral and do not run afoul of the law. They use fair and objective criteria with which no reasonable person could disagree. They read:
Priority 2: "Other students residing in the Walla Walla School District who enrolled within the two week open enrollment period."
Priority 3: "Other students residing within the Walla Walla School District who open enrolled after the two-week open enrollment period."
Priority 4: "Students requesting enrollment from other school districts."[2]
The District argues that it must use the Priority 1 policy to diversify its schools. In the 1980's, under federal review, the District was ordered to integrate the predominantly Hispanic Blue Ridge Elementary School.
After establishing an enhanced math and science program to attract white students to Blue Ridge, the district's policy backfired. The unfairness of the system was revealed in the case of a Caucasian man's mixed-race daughter who was almost denied admission to the school's enhanced program.
After a face-to-face meeting between the man and District officials, he was able to enroll his daughter at Blue Ridge’s enhanced program because officials assumed she was white. When the schoolgirl showed up for class, though, school officials reclassified her as a minority because her appearance disclosed she was half African American. This action threatened to expel her from the program. Her father, however, re-enrolled her after school officials advised him to check "white" on her application form, therefore making her again eligible for the program.
Think about it. Walla Walla Schools would have consciously excluded a student from an enhanced education program because they thought she was black. Although the District's superintendent says the above event could not happen again, the policy that made it possible remains on the books and in force.
By granting preferences to white students and discriminating against Hispanic students, and vice versa, the District’s policy violates the Initiative 200 law. In fact, the use of race is actually given higher priority than three race-neutral factors to determine what school or program a student may attend. As shown, Priorities 2, 3 and 4 do not interfere with the civil rights of citizens.
As with our earlier study on Seattle Schools, Walla Walla's policy exposes the District and area taxpayers to costly civil rights lawsuits if parents of any race can show in court that their children are being denied educational opportunities because of their race, color, ethnicity or national origin.
The school superintendent says, "The District's policy will not change" until direction comes from the federal or state government. Apparently direction from the voters is not enough. The people have made it clear that they want their government to treat everyone the same, regardless of race. It is time for Walla Walla's scofflaw policy to end.
The Equal Citizenship Project is part of the Washington Institute Foundation and is devoted to researching public policy issues that affect the fundamental civil rights of all Washington state citizens. The Project is made possible by grants from The John M. Olin Foundation and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.
[1] Walla Walla Public Schools, Administrative Procedure, No. 3112, “Elementary Open Enrollment,” section 7, received August 12, 1999.
[2] Ibid, section 5.
