ACLU Sues Ferguson School District over Lack of Diversity

The ACLU has filed a suit against the Ferguson-Florissant school district in Missouri, claiming a deliberate lack of diversity on the school board as a result of the way the district conducts elections.

The lawsuit claims, according to USA Today, that school board members are chosen by an at-large system where everyone in the community votes on every school board members, and so black constituents are unable to get anyone to represent their interests or views on the board.

One of the plaintiffs––a member of the NAACP whose two daughters attend school in the district––explains, “We’ve seen African-Americans excluded from making decisions that affect our children. We need to be able to advocate for an education that will put our kids first and not political agendas.”

The suit proposes people get to vote for individuals from their own districts to represent their interests instead.

[image via R. Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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