FAQs (New!)
FAQs – Students Doe Case
Q: What’s this all about?
A: In early 2009, the Lower Merion School District, just outside Philadelphia PA, changed its attendance zones to accommodate new high school building sizes. LMSD has two high schools, one located in the village of Ardmore – Lower Merion High School (LMHS) and the other in the village of Rosemont – Harriton High School (HHS). The schools are approximately 5 miles apart. The plan enacted takes a small (10 block by 4 block) area of the village of Ardmore and sends those children to the Rosemont school, while allowing residents east, west and north of this group (south is a different county and school system) as well as over half of the students in the rest of the District to choose their high school while mandating that these students attend the Rosemont school. The Ardmore school is less than 1 mile from their homes.
Q: Why did the attendance zones change?
A: In 2004, the District elected to rebuild their High Schools, and in doing so to make them of equal capacity. In the past Lower Merion High School was significantly larger than Harriton High School. This new construction changed that.
Q: Why would this area of Ardmore be ‘carved out’ and away from a school so close?
A: Ardmore is home to the region’s most dense concentration of African-American residents. This community has been historically much more diverse than the rest of the District. LMSD targeted this particular neighborhood to move because of this rich diversity, as they wanted both schools to have an equal proportion of minority students. The District is 80% white, and approximately half of the non-white students are African-American. As the home to more than half of the District’s African American students, LMSD could not achieve the racial profile it sought for its high school populations without implementing a redistricting plan that split the minority community in South Ardmore between Lower Merion and Harriton High Schools. Indeed, splitting South Ardmore was the ONLY constant in a redistricting process that was otherwise characterized by dramatic changes in priorities and approaches in moving from one proposal to the next.
Q: Aren’t both High Schools excellent? Why does choice matter?
A: Yes, both high schools are top rated. But this is not the issue. Saying that students should not mind that they are targeted for redistricting because of their race because both high schools are excellent is reminiscent of the “separate but equal” idea that was overturned by the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. Students Doe and their families have deep ties to Lower Merion High School, which is a short walk from their homes, and is the only public school in their community. They believe that it is both illegal and morally wrong that they have been targeted to be bused to a school outside their neighborhood because of the color of their skin.
Q: Didn’t the Court rule that no discrimination occurred?
A: It did not. The Court ruled that this plan was designed, recommended and enacted “largely” due to the racial makeup of this neighborhood. Discrimination does occur, in that some are afforded benefits and opportunities that others are not based on the color of their skin.
Q: How could the Court conclude that this is legal?
A: The Court ruled that because the entire neighborhood was targeted, and not individual students, that there was no Constitutional right to be afforded. Had this been a plan that singled out individual students, it would have been illegal.
The Court also decided that the school district’s interests in balancing the school enrollment, keeping bus times as short as possible, and keeping students together K-12 were more important than ensuring equal treatment of all students. Therefore, while there is racial discrimination occurring in the plan, the Court’s ruling concludes that these other interests override the Constitutional right to equal treatment under the law.
Q: Who are Students Doe? Why are they all “Doe”?
A: Students Doe are a group of nine African-American students from seven families in Ardmore, PA. The families chose to proceed using pseudonyms to protect their school-age children’s identities due to the intense public interest and local controversy this case has generated. It is common in Federal Court for minors to use pseudonyms or initials in court proceedings.
Q: Shouldn’t these kids just be happy they’re going to excellent schools? After all, these schools are better than 99% of the rest of them!
A: The Doe families live and pay taxes in the Lower Merion School District because they believe that these schools are excellent and want their children to benefit from the many opportunities that these schools afford. This does not mean they are willing to forfeit their right to be treated as equals. No American should be asked to forfeit his or her Constitutional rights in order to attend a public school.
Q: Isn’t diversity a good thing?
A: Yes! Students Doe live in a neighborhood that is richly diverse, and appreciate the benefits of diversity. They also understand that whereas diversity is important, efforts to socially engineer diversity should only be undertaken with great thought and with an understanding and concern for the impact on all stakeholders. Moreover, diversity does not mean racial balance – even without this plan there would be no segregation of schools. Both would have minority students, though in slightly different proportions. No school would have more than 15% African-American students under any scenario.
Q: Shouldn’t LMSD be commended for diversifying both of its schools?
A: The LMSD administration and School Board Directors denied in all of their court filings and testimony at trial that they sought to diversify these high school populations. They used no consultants nor did they have any in-house experts on diversity in education. There is an impact to breaking apart a small, cohesive minority community and busing them away from their peers and support system. Ardmore is a highly walkable community, with almost all streets having sidewalks, good traffic control, and quick access to public transportation. Rosemont is completely inaccessible to anyone without a car.
Q: What about racial isolation? Shouldn’t the school district be concerned that, prior to redistricting, the African American population at Harriton was only 6%?
A: Of course. The LMSD administration testified at trial, however, that this plan would not address isolation, and that they had other proven ways at their disposal to support children without many ethnic peers without needing to move students.
Consider too that, just like in the white population, not every racial minority student shares the same cultural, social, and ethnic identity. Just as there are marked differences between, say, an ethnic Italian and an ethnic Russian, there too are differences between black students from West Africa and the Caribbean. Many studies have found, for example, tensions between the culture of the African immigrant student and the African-American student whose family has been here for two or more generations. Deciding that a student will be less isolated because there is another person in the building whose skin color matches his or hers, even if there is no shared culture between the students, is simple-minded and insulting.
Q: Why can’t everyone just move on and allow us all to ‘heal’?
A: Healing assumes that the issue/problem/wound has been addressed. Healing isn’t a magical word. It is the result of good communication, compromises, and genuine understanding. No person or group should be asked to forfeit their rights and “move on” for the greater good. Healing is a two way street.
Q: What’s next?
A: Students Doe are filing a request for reconsideration of the verdict with the Court. Should the verdict stand, Students Doe plan to file an appeal with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Q: What can I do to help?
A: While Lower Merion is a wealthy area, not every resident is of great financial means. These families are not wealthy. They are grateful for the generous support of so many who share their belief that equality is important. Please help us, either through monetary donations or by volunteering your time! Donations can be made by clicking on the ‘donate’ button on this website.
Q: Who is LMVUE? Are they a Plaintiff in the Doe case?
A: LMVUE stands for Lower Merion Voices United for Equity in Education. We are a grassroots civic organization dedicated to ensuring equality and equity for all in our public schools. LMVUE is not a party or a Plaintiff in this legal action.
Q: Is my donation tax-deductible?
A: It is not. We are a 501C(4) civic lobbying organization.
Q: Could this plan still be changed?
A: This is a possibility should the US Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of the United States reverse the Court’s decision. LMSD can also voluntarily change their attendance zones at any time.