Public school students file lawsuit against Massachusetts to require the State to provide Black and Latino students with adequate and equal educational opportunity

Boston, MA—Public school students and community organizations today filed a lawsuit charging that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is violating its own Constitution by maintaining racially segregated school districts that concentrate poverty, deny Black and Latino students an adequate and equal education, and threaten the state’s civic and economic future. 

The plaintiffs include nine students and four community organizations from what they say are segregated school districts across the state, including Springfield, Holyoke, Boston, Lawrence, Brockton, Lynn, and Worcester. The community organizations include Essex County Community Organization, Worcester Interfaith, YWCA of Central Massachusetts, and Out Now. 

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the State’s public school system violates the students’ constitutional rights and require the State to provide Black and Latino students with adequate and equal educational opportunity.

Represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights, Brown’s Promise, and pro bono counsel from WilmerHale, the plaintiffs are calling on the state to adopt a comprehensive plan to ensure that Massachusetts public schools are integrated. Evidence-backed policies include: 

• Creating more Vocational Technical schools that serve regional populations across district lines
• Dramatically expanding regional magnet school programs to attract students across district lines
• Prioritizing and supporting voluntary interdistrict transfer programs (including by offering free transportation and other student supports)
• Investing in infrastructure for under-performing school districts to draw students and families to these districts
• Growing and continuing to improve the METCO program

“It’s time to end mass segregation,” said Juanita Batchelor, grandmother and legal guardian of the lead plaintiff in the case, who is enrolled in the Springfield Public School District. “The system isn’t preparing any of our kids for the real world if it’s not preparing them to learn, play, live, and work together. Especially not if Black and Latino communities like ours get the short end of the stick year after year, generation after generation, while wealthy white school districts right next to us get access to a great education and plenty of resources. Separate is not equal.”

The lawsuit alleges that “Massachusetts is operating a two-tiered school system. Alongside some of the best public schools in the nation, the Commonwealth is home to school districts across the State serving primarily Black and Latino students that are characterized by high concentrations of poverty and are not providing the educational opportunities all students deserve. The State’s own Racial Imbalance Advisory Council has found that 63 percent of all Massachusetts schools are “segregated” or “intensely segregated” by race. Massachusetts ranks second nationally in between-district income segregation, making it one of the worst offenders when it comes to “poverty packing” school districts.”

A statement representing the plaintiffs states that Massachusetts’ Constitution guarantees students the right to an adequate education and to equal protection under the law.

“The state’s current two-tiered education system violates both guarantees. Massachusetts laws and policies limit the vast majority of students to schools in their residential districts. This—combined with long-segregated housing patterns—restricts Black and Latino students to high-poverty districts and denies them access to the opportunities available just minutes away in wealthier, predominantly white districts.”

“Segregation in Massachusetts schools is the predictable result of policies the state has enacted and maintained for years. Our Constitution promises every child an equal and adequate education. That promise cannot coexist with a system that isolates Black and Latino students in under-resourced districts,” said Jillian Lenson, Senior Attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights. “This lawsuit is about building a system where opportunity is not determined by zip code, and where our children learn how to live and lead in a diverse democracy.  Our Constitution demands nothing less.”

“Massachusetts has long held itself out as a leader in public education, but for far too long Black and Latino students across the Commonwealth have not been afforded equal access to high quality schools.” said GeDá Jones Herbert, Chief Legal Counsel at Brown’s Promise. “The state has a constitutional duty to provide an adequate and equal education to every child in its care. Our clients’ paramount concern is to dismantle the current two-tiered, segregated system, to ensure that all children can learn and thrive together in well-resourced schools.”

“The case asks the court to consider whether Massachusetts’ current system of school districting satisfies the state constitution’s guarantees of an adequate education and equal protection for all students. WilmerHale is serving as pro bono counsel to help ensure the court can fully evaluate those constitutional issues,” said Lisa Pirozzolo, Partner at WilmerHale.

The case, Batchelor, et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, et al. was filed in the Suffolk County Superior Court. 

The complaint is available here.