On May 24, 2023, Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed a brief in the Appellate Division, First Department, in IntegrateNYC v. State of New York. PDE, which joined the case on the defendants’ side, asked the appeals court to uphold the trial court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit.
The plaintiffs claim New York City schools operate a “racist caste system” and want the schools’ race-neutral policies replaced with “race-conscious” ones. PDE argued:
- Race-based policies are unconstitutional. Under the Equal Protection Clause, students should “see fellow students as individuals rather than solely as members of a racial group,” as the Supreme Court said in Parents Involved v. Seattle School District No. 1.
- These claims don’t belong in court. Ruling for the plaintiffs would require judges to make policy choices about how to run schools and then oversee those choices with open-ended court orders.
- Every claim fails on its own terms. Even if the claims could be heard, none of them states a valid legal claim, including the claim under the education article of New York’s constitution.
Read the full brief below:
