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…