US News
US Supreme Court to review race-based criteria for school admission
By DPA
Jun 5, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - In what could be a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court said Monday that it would review whether public schools can use race as a factor in determining which students they admit.

The high court will hear two cases on the issue. The first involves public schools in Seattle, where students can pick which school they want to attend.

If there are more applications to any given school than places, the district looks at certain criteria, including race, to determine which students will get the spots.

In an effort to maintain a racial balance at schools, the race factor comes into play if schools are either 65 per cent white or 75 per cent minority.

The second case involves a school district in the state of Kentucky, which requires that public schools have between 15 and 50 per cent black students. The mother of a white student is challenging the policy, saying it precludes her son from attending a school across the street from their home.

The court will consider the case in the term beginning in October of this year.