A Wisconsin law firm has threatened legal action against the Green Bay Public School District unless it adopts a “color-blind approach to resource allocation.”
According to The district's schools reflexively deprioritized the needs of a fourth-grade student with dyslexia because he was white, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Freedom told the district.
will
written In a letter to Interim Superintendent Vicki Beyer on Monday, she said the district “abandons and reinstates its discriminatory policies or we will take appropriate legal action.”[s] “We are focused on serving all students based on need, not race.”We asked for responses by Dec. 16.
Colby Decker, a mother in the district, desperately sought accommodations for her son, but King Elementary School first ignored his needs and then delayed essential literacy intervention, the letter said. Had Mr. Decker's son been American Indian, black, or Hispanic, he might have received priority access to additional reading resources.
After enrolling her son at King Elementary School in January 2024, Ms. Decker formally requested one-on-one reading intervention. The school finally placed Decker's son on the waiting list for “Tier 2” reading intervention in April.
“This affected him in the classroom, where teachers, despite their active efforts to help, lacked the expertise and time to provide effective interventions.” WILL Cory Brewer, education advisor, and Dan Lennington, associate advisor, wrote:
Fourth graders were ultimately enrolled in the intervention program in fall 2024. However, it was reportedly a “Tier 3” program and was clearly less intensive than his needs. Sessions were also conducted in groups.
“The continued lack of appropriate support is having a significant impact on our son,” the letter said.
“Administrators are observing children and sorting them by race.”
Decker then “stumbled upon” the 2024-25 School Success Plan.
memo Under the section on high-priority strategies and action steps that schools should “prioritize”[es] Provide additional resources for Indigenous, Black, and Hispanic students. ”
Decker told Blaze News she found the document while searching through her school calendar.
“I clicked because I didn't know any better. As soon as I read it, all the alarm bells went off,” Decker said.
Brewer and Lennington say the policy, as described in the documents, violates the Constitution and civil rights laws. “Under both Title VI and the U.S. Constitution, school districts have “no authority…'' to use race as a factor in funding educational opportunities among the public.''
In their letter, the lawyers cited the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29, 2023 decision.
decision in Student for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard University/UNCwhere the court reiterated its judgment. Brown v. Board of Educationstates that under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, no state has the authority to “use race as a factor in providing educational opportunities to its citizens.”
Brewer and Lennington pointed out that the decision: Students aiming for fair admissions “Race should never be used as a negative or a stereotype, and that is exactly what the school district's policy is. Mrs. Decker's son's race is a negative one for him because Mrs. Decker is white.” It is something like that.”
Frustrated, the mother contacted King Elementary School Principal Matt Markoa and asked if her son was receiving “less services or lower priority because he is white.”
Ms. Decker said her son is in the 17th percentile, “so he's not in the priority group, but kids in the priority group are performing at a higher level, and they're We are progressing to the top.” [her son.]”
Screenshots of the exchange show that Mr. Markoa took the conversation offline and told Mr. Decker that he would be “happy to discuss the work we are doing in relation to priority groups, either in person or over the phone.”
Asked later whether Marcole acknowledged that race-based prioritization of resources was discriminatory, Decker told Blaze News, He told me that he felt called to support 'an underserved student population.' That's why these priority groups were created. So I asked him, “Would people be offended if we replaced this word with white?” And he said statistically that would never happen. ”
“To my knowledge, the principal never denied that my client's son was a lower priority because he was white,” Brewer told Blaze News. “He confirmed that the policy was in effect at the school and that the school had priority groups based on race to receive additional resources such as reading support.”
Blaze News reached out to Markoa and Beyer for comment, but did not receive a response by deadline.
district
said Green Bay Newspaper Gazette,
The district received the letter from WILL yesterday and is investigating the allegations. However, it is clear that the District does not have a policy that includes the language contained in the letter. All district policies must be approved by the school board, but no such policy language exists.
“The district seems to be taking the position that this policy isn't a policy because it wasn't voted on by the school board, but that doesn't matter. We're not using that as an excuse,” Brewer told Blaze News. …There is no dispute that this school-level policy is in effect, prioritized based on race, and applied to my client's son.”
District policy documents
show Priority performance goals are “set based on data that shows the district meets the needs of some student groups better than others. By focusing on students in priority performance groups, It improves the skills of educators and ultimately benefits all students.”
Despite the apparent race-based preference system, the district says on its main webpage that it does not discriminate against a person's race.
wisconsin law Oppose student discrimination. Additionally, the district has aggressive policies against discrimination against students in curriculum, career, and technical education. Services for students. and recreational or other programs or activities.
Decker told Blaze News that DEI actually prioritizes some people based purely on unchanging characteristics. If the supply of resources is limited, this becomes something of a zero-sum game. “When someone is given more priority, someone else should be given less priority. And in this example, my son was given less priority.” ”
“My son doesn't know he's a victim,” Decker said. “And I'm going to have to sit down with all three of my sons here right away and explain to them that his rights aren't being violated for any reason other than the color of his skin. It's going to be a really difficult conversation. Sho” . ”
“They look at their classmates and are colorblind, but administrators look at the kids and categorize them by race,” Decker continued. “I don't know how long I'll be able to protect my children. I know I'll be a public voice speaking out against equity and advocating for equality. People will know and my friends will talk about it. He's a fourth-grader. I would have to have those conversations because the kids are very aware of what's going on in the world, but it would be a really beautiful ending, because they know I'm their best friend. Because I know that I am fighting for and standing in the gap.”
The will specifically requests that the school district stop prioritizing resources based on race, adopt a “color-blind approach to resource allocation,” and provide Decker's son with immediate and appropriate reading support. There is.
Asked if the company plans to take legal action if the school district takes only partial action, Brewer said, Unless we take this approach, we and our clients will consider all legal options.” For challenging discriminatory policies, whether through a lawsuit or federal complaint. ”
“Now is the time to push back and imagine alternatives.”
“Under federal law in the U.S. Constitution, it is clear that school districts cannot classify or discriminate against students based on race,” Brewer continued. Additionally, “Prioritizing resources based on race is illegal and immoral. And here we have a student who has been diagnosed with dyslexia and is in need of resources. The resource is also on the waiting list and he can't get the resource back.'' ”
Brewer expressed hope that the incoming Trump administration may seize the “opportunity to implement Title VI in a way that ensures that all individuals are treated fairly, regardless of race.” While the Biden administration tends to treat people as members of identity groups, Brewer suggested it should instead treat people as unique individuals.
The attorney said such reforms would likely be initiated through the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
Decker offered this advice to parents of children facing similar situations across the country: “Everything needs to be documented. Schools only want in-person meetings, but that's very convenient for them because they don't have paper evidence.” Four years of records and monitoring data, and we're here to help. There are all these amazing things that led us to say, 'Yes, this is wrong,' and we hope that we have all the documentation to prove it. ”
“But the most important thing as a parent is to not stop. Don't stop,” Decker continued. “Visit the school website and read what the school has to say. Schools are usually pretty up front in telling us what their priorities are. But now it's time to push back and imagine alternatives. It’s time.”
Decker didn't want to speculate on how schools and districts would respond to the letter, but said the push for equity in recent years shows they are “true believers.” He suggested that there was.
“It's time for us as parents to push back and demand that our children be seen as equals,” Brewer said.
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