Court: Racial imbalance in Minnesota schools must be 'substantial factor' to violate Constitution

School segregation alone doesn't violate the Minnesota Constitution, but it might if that racial imbalance is a "substantial factor" in an inadequate education, according to the state Supreme Court.

The ruling released Wednesday in the long-running Cruz-Guzman lawsuit against the state sets the legal parameters for the case in Hennepin County District Court.

"We hold that racial imbalances in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools, standing alone, are not sufficient to establish a violation of the Education Clause," Associate Justice Margaret Chutich wrote in the majority opinion. The plaintiffs don't have to prove the state caused the segregation, but "they must prove that racially imbalanced schools are a substantial factor in causing their children to receive an inadequate education."

Dan Shulman, an attorney for the firm representing the plaintiffs, called the ruling a victory for his clients. There had previously been a question over whether he would have to prove racial isolation was intentional in order to prevail.

Wednesday's ruling put a definitive end to that requirement, Shulman said. Now he just needs to prove that demographic imbalances in the state's public schools contribute substantially to disparate academic outcomes.

"If they're segregated, then they're not getting an adequate education," Shulman said. "There's no question that it's a contributing factor."

The Minnesota Department of Education "appreciates the Court's decision," spokesman Kevin Burns said in a statement.

"We continue to work to ensure every child receives a quality education, no matter their race or ZIP code," he said.

The closely watched case has the potential to drastically overhaul enrollment in metro-area schools. Proponents of charter schools, particularly those that intentionally serve distinct racial or cultural groups, are among those who have raised questions about it.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney who represents three charter schools intervening in the case, said the plaintiffs will have a difficult time proving that enrolling a high concentration of students of color itself results in disparate outcomes.

"I'm wondering how the plaintiffs are going to prove that simply having more white students in a school will shift academic outcomes," she said. "Is it going to happen through osmosis? They're going to have to dig a lot deeper to get to the root of their arguments."

Drawing on her experience as a Black mother, Levy Armstrong argues that the founders of schools like Friendship Academy of the Arts in Minneapolis — one of the schools intervening in the suit, where 93% of students are Black — stepped up when they saw districts weren't providing a culturally affirming education for students of color.

"Those are important values," she said. "I think it can be a challenge for people to understand that if they haven't had those concerns."

Minnesota's Constitution requires the state to "establish a general, uniform and thorough system of public schools and students have a right to receive an adequate education."

Plaintiffs in the Cruz-Guzman case argue that the Minnesota Legislature, Department of Education and state government should be held liable for the dismal academic outcomes of Black and Latino students. The suit notes that the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts are more racially segregated than surrounding districts, and students of color have long posted lower math and reading scores on standardized tests.

Historically racist housing policies such as redlining and racial covenants, Cruz-Guzman plaintiffs say, led to racially segregated schools and those imbalances lead to poor academic performance.

Chief Justice Natalie Hudson agreed with those points in her dissent.

"Where racially segregated neighborhoods exist, the historical result has been racialized disparities in academic outcomes," she wrote.

Instead of asking the plaintiffs to prove that a system of "segregated schools causes an inadequate education, I would hold that a system of de facto segregated schools is an inadequate education."

Both Shulman and Levy Armstrong praised Hudson's dissent for its historical analysis, arguing that the long view supported each of their arguments.

The two sides reached an agreement in 2021 that included a sweeping plan to integrate Twin Cities schools through a combination of busing, the establishment of new magnets and additional mandates for segregated schools.

Those plans required a sign-off by the Legislature, which didn't act on the agreement.