ABSTRACT
Th is is an opportune time to consider the legal aspects of magnet schools. On June 28, 2007, in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 et al., together with No. 05-915, Meredith, Custodial Parent and Next Friend of McDonald v. Jeff erson County Bd. of Ed et al., 127 S. Ct. 2738 (2007), the Supreme Court made its fi rst ruling at the K-12 level on the use of racial criterion in student assignment in school districts not under court order. In concluding that racial quotas could not be used (Justice Roberts and Justice Th omas’ majority opinion), although race could be one of several factors (Justice Kennedy’s concurring opinion), the ruling replicated previous decisions on the role of race in professional school and university admissions-Bakke (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265, 1978), Gratz (Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244, 2003), and Grutter (Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 2003). Th e 2007 Supreme Court ruling on K-12 student assignment aff ects some unknown number of school districts throughout the U.S. that are still using race in magnet school admissions without being under a court order.
