Supreme Court Reviews Montgomery Magnet Policy Requiring 93rd-Percentile Scores in Some Asian-Heavy School Clusters
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 6
Supreme Court Reviews Montgomery Magnet Policy Requiring 93rd-Percentile Scores in Some Asian-Heavy School Clusters
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 6
Summary
Tuesday’s Supreme Court arguments will test whether Montgomery County’s magnet-school admissions system unlawfully disadvantages Asian-American applicants despite being framed as race-neutral.
The challenge centers on a lottery that uses locally normed MAP scores: students in some Asian-heavy school clusters must reach the 93rd district-wide percentile to qualify, while others can qualify at the 60th percentile.
Montgomery County changed its process after a 2015 consultant review found racial disparities in gifted programs and urged revised criteria; Asian-American enrollment later fell sharply, including to 30.3% from 58.2% at one school.
The case could overturn a Fourth Circuit standard that blocked the parents’ suit because Asian-American enrollment had not dropped below their share of applications, a rationale Justice Samuel Alito has called dangerous and flagrantly wrong.