The parties in a long-running lawsuit alleging that New Jersey’s state school system is unconstitutionally segregated are making progress in mediation discussions.

The lawsuit stems from a complaint made in May 2018 by the Latino Action Network, which argues that the the State Department of Education and the state itself has violated the New Jersey Constitution and various state statutes “by failing to fulfill their obligations to remedy unlawful, persistent, and pervasive statewide de facto segregation.” The primary culprit is NJ’s custom of assigning school districts based on ZIP code, ensuring that parents’ ability to afford housing determines which schools their children attend.

Originally one of the targets of the lawsuit was the New Jersey Public Charter School Association (NJPSCA), based on an innumerate assumption that charter schools increase segregation. NJPSCA requested to intervene; that request was granted and the Association is now involved in mediation discussions after Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy ruled in October 2023 that charter schools don’t play a role in segregation. In comments to North Jersey, NJPSCA President Harry Lee concurred: “The main culprit for the lack of racially diverse public schools in New Jersey is segregated housing patterns,” he said.

Mediation was supposed to end in April but all parties agreed to an extension until July. Lawrence Lustberg, who represents the plaintiffs, said the parties “regularly confer with each other and with the mediator between sessions, and they have had significant, good-faith discussions in furtherance of a possible resolution.” Possible remedies on the table include:

• Expansion of NJ’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows some school districts with empty seats to enroll students from outside their boundaries;
• Expansion of magnet schools, which can draw from wider catchment areas than traditional district schools;
• Expansion of public charter schools which, depending on their charter, may also enroll students from outside their municipal boundaries;
• Consolidation and regionalization of school districts, which  Vivian Cox Fraser, president of the Urban League of Essex County, has presented as a potential remedy: “If you didn’t have so many districts, you could save on cost and still provide a great education,” she said (although cost savings are on the margins). “People are asking, ‘Why am I spending this high portion of my income on taxes?’ I think the issue is going to come to a head and maybe this lawsuit is what brings it there.”

The State and the DOE are represented by the Murphy Administration’s Attorney General, who did not respond to a request for comment.