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Connecticut Parents Union

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Gwen Samuel, Founder and President
    • Advisory Board
  • 2021 Legislative Agenda
    • Prudence Crandall Safety and Learning Initiative – Proposed Bill Number 574
  • Support Educational Freedom
  • Blog
  • News
    • Media Advisories
    • Press Releases
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us

Press Releases

U.S. District Court for Connecticut Rules Hartford Black and Hispanic Plaintiffs Have Standing to Challenge Magnet Schools Racial Quotas
NewsPress Releases

U.S. District Court for Connecticut Rules Hartford Black and Hispanic Plaintiffs Have Standing to Challenge Magnet Schools Racial Quotas

by ctparentsunion_78xdlk March 15, 2019

JUDGE RULED ROBINSON V. WENTZELL WILL PROCEED! 

HARTFORD, CT – Yesterday was a huge victory for educational freedom and justice for Hartford Black and Hispanic children and their parents!
 
LaShawn Robinson, the lead plaintiff of Robinson v. Wentzell was notified that their case to fight against unjust racial quotas in Connecticut Magnet schools will proceed in court.
 
 Both the State of Connecticut, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU Racial Justice Program, and the Center for Children’s Advocacy, as Sheff v. O’Neil intervenors, tried very hard to have this case thrown out of court on a variety of grounds — forgetting that every child in Connecticut regardless of their race has a right to access safe and quality educational opportunities. 
 
“…in Robinson v. Wentzell, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut rejected the state’s and intervenors’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. The court held that the case belongs in federal court and therefore rejected the state’s attempt to have the case heard by the Connecticut Supreme Court. The intervenors’ attempt to kick the case to the state trial court was also rejected. In addition, the court ruled that strict scrutiny applies to these overt racial classifications and that the Hartford plaintiffs have standing to challenge both the racial quota and the lottery. “ Pacific Legal Foundation, Attorneys for Plaintiffs.

While this is only the first battle in what is sure to be a long fight for educational freedom for Hartford Black and Hispanic children, the CT Parents Union is committed to work with the plaintiffs of Robinson v. Wentzell to help protect the educational rights of all Connecticut children regardless of their race – especially the most vulnerable children.

Yesterday, we as the State of Connecticut and the country just learned that children have Constitutional rights too!

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March 15, 2019
Connecticut Parents Union File Federal Lawsuit Against State Opposing Magnet School Racial Quotas as Unconstitutional
NewsPress Releases

Connecticut Parents Union File Federal Lawsuit Against State Opposing Magnet School Racial Quotas as Unconstitutional

by ctparentsunion_78xdlk February 20, 2019

Hartford, Connecticut — The Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU) has filed a federal lawsuit to end race-based enrollment quotas in public magnet schools that unjustly and unconstitutionally deny Black and Hispanic children on wait list access to empty available seats in high quality magnet schools in their neighborhood.

The CTPU, which works to expand safe and high-quality educational opportunities for all Connecticut children, seeks to end this blatant racial discrimination in Connecticut’s public k12 schools.

CPTU founder and president, Gwen Samuel, says:  “There should never be a K12 public school or educational law in the state of Connecticut or anywhere in the country that denies a child access to a safe and quality education because of the color of their skin or income level – period.” 

Charlize B, 5th grader Hartford Magnet School and CTPU youth member says:  “I feel Hartford students are not being treated fairly in my school. My school treats the out of town kids better.”   

Lin Yang, a suburban parent says:  “A government mandate of racial diversity / balance is a distraction to the real issue, which is the education of each kid as an unique individual.  It leads to stereotype, inequality and unconscious bias.  We should focus on education of the next generation as equal members of society with shared responsibility, opportunity and pride.”

The issue is a state law that all Connecticut interdistrict magnet schools reserve 25 percent of classroom seats for White or Asian students who choose to not attend inner-city magnet schools. The racial quota originally applied only to the city of Hartford, where a group of parents led by African American LaShawn Robinson filed a similar lawsuit last year. A law passed in 2017, however, expanded this unjust racial quota statewide. Schools failing to meet the racial quotas face funding cuts or even closure, as with New Haven’s Creed High School which closed in 2018 after enrolling too many Black and Hispanic students in empty available seats.

“Incredibly, the state incentivizes public schools to deny Black and Hispanic children opportunities for an exceptional education for no reason other than skin color,” said CTPU attorney Oliver Dunford.  “This lawsuit aims to protect equal access to education for all children in Connecticut.”

Pacific Legal Foundation represents clients in both cases free of charge. More information is available at pacificlegal.org

About Connecticut Parents Union 
The Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU), a membership organization whereby diverse parents, guardians and families are connected with the educational resources and support system necessary to ensure that neither race, zip-code nor socio-economic status is a predictor of a child’s success.

View the lawsuit complaint below.

CTPU Federal Lawsuit Compla… by on Scribd

February 20, 2019

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