Jenkins by Agyei v. State of Mo., 90-2314
| Decision Date | 14 August 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-2314,90-2314 |
| Parties | 69 Ed. Law Rep. 705 Kalima JENKINS, by her friend, Kamau AGYEI; Carolyn Dawson, by her next friend, Richard Dawson; Tufanza A. Byrd, by her next friend, Teresa Byrd; Derek A. Dydell, by his next friend, Maurice Dydell; Terrance Cason, by his next friend, Antoria Cason; Jonathan Wiggins, by his next friend, Rosemary Jacobs Love; Kirk Allan Ward, by his next friend, Mary Ward; Robert M. Hall, by his next friend, Denise Hall; Dwayne A. Turrentine, by his next friend, Shelia Turrentine; Gregory A. Pugh, by his next friend, David Winters, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated; Appellees, American Federation of Teachers, Local 691, Appellee, v. The STATE OF MISSOURI; Honorable John Ashcroft, Governor of the State of Missouri; Wendell Bailey, Treasurer of the State of Missouri; Missouri State Board of Education Roseann Bentley Dr. Dan Blackwell Rev. Raymond McCallister, Jr. Susan D. Finke Thomas R. Davis (Presiding) Cynthia B. Thompson Gary M. Cunningham Members of the Missouri State Board of Education Robert E. Bartman, Commissioner of Education of the State of Missouri, Appellants, and School District of Kansas City, Missouri and Claude C. Perkins, Superintendent thereof, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Michael Fields, Jefferson City, Mo., argued, for appellant; John W. Simon and Bart A. Matanic, Jefferson City, Mo., on the brief.
Arthur Benson, Kansas City, Mo., argued, for appellee; Theodore M. Shaw, Los Angeles, Cal. and Doyle R. Pryor of Kansas City, Mo., on the brief.
Before McMILLIAN and JOHN R. GIBSON, and Circuit Judges, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge.
Another appeal from the Kansas City, Missouri, School District desegregation remedy is now before us. The State appeals from a district court 1 order approving a contingency plan that modifies the magnet school admissions policy for the 1990-91 school year. The contingency plan temporarily allows deviation from the original Long-Range Magnet School Plan, which required that new magnet schools open with a student population that is 60% minority and 40% non-minority. The State argues that the district court erred or abused its discretion in adopting the contingency plan and in rejecting the State's two alternatives to the contingency plan. The State also argues that the contingency plan will result in the reestablishment of racially identifiable schools, and thus, the court cannot require funding of certain components of the remedial plan. The State's arguments lack merit, and we affirm the district court order.
On June 14, 1985, the district court entered its first order for the desegregation of the Kansas City, Missouri, School District. Jenkins v. Missouri, 639 F.Supp. 19 (W.D.Mo.1985), aff'd as modified, 807 F.2d 657 (8th Cir.1986) (en banc), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 816, 108 S.Ct. 70, 98 L.Ed.2d 34 (1987). An important part of the district court remedy included the implementation of a magnet school program. Id. at 34-35. The KCMSD prepared and presented its Long-Range Magnet School Plan, which the district court approved on November 12, 1986. Jenkins v. Missouri, No. 77-0420-CV-W-4, slip op. at 4 (W.D.Mo. Nov. 12, 1986).
The Long-Range Magnet School Plan provided that all of the middle and high schools in the KCMSD become magnet schools in the 1990-91 school year. The Plan required that the district's new magnet schools open with a 60% minority and 40% non-minority student population. The Plan also required that existing schools that are converted to magnet schools reduce their minority percentage by 2% per year until the schools reach the 60%/40% goal.
As the 1990-91 school year approached, it became evident that the 60%/40% goal would not be reached and that if the goal were adhered to, all minority students could not be placed in the middle and high schools for the school year. KCMSD proposed a contingency plan providing for a temporary deviation from the 60%/40% racial admissions guideline. The State objected to the KCMSD's contingency plan, arguing that the plan would lead to the reestablishment of racially segregated schools. The State suggested that instead of adopting the contingency plan proposed by the KCMSD, the KCMSD should either convert the failing magnet schools back to traditional schools to accommodate students who could not get into magnet schools without upsetting the racial guideline, or open traditional school annexes at the magnet schools for such students. Although the district court stated that it viewed the 60%/40% guideline as a steadfast magnet school admissions requirement, it adopted the contingency plan as temporarily necessary under the circumstances and rejected the alternatives proposed by the State. Jenkins v. Missouri, No. 77-0420-CV-W-4, slip op. at 4 (W.D.Mo. July 3, 1990). The State appeals, arguing that the district court erred or abused its discretion in: (1) adopting the contingency plan because the plan will lead to the reestablishment of racially identifiable schools; (2) failing to accept its alternatives to the contingency plan; and (3) continuing to hold the State liable for the funding of remedial components in these circumstances.
Before we address the merits of the State's arguments, we note that we view the district court order in the context of the court crafting and managing a remedy for the failure of both the KCMSD and the State to eliminate vestiges of the dual school system lingering in the KCMSD. We need not, as we deal with each chapter of this ongoing and thoroughly litigated remedy, recite all of the details as to what has gone on before, but those who are interested may refer to Jenkins v. Missouri, 807 F.2d 657, 682-686 (8th Cir.1986) (en banc) (Jenkins I ), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 816, 108 S.Ct. 70, 98 L.Ed.2d 34 (1987), Jenkins v. Missouri, 855 F.2d 1295 (8th Cir.1988) (Jenkins II ), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, 495 U.S. 33, 110 S.Ct. 1651, 109 L.Ed.2d 31 (1990), Jenkins v. Missouri, 890 F.2d 65 (8th Cir.1989) (Jenkins III ), and Jenkins v. Missouri, 931 F.2d 470 (8th Cir.1991) (Jenkins IV ).
The State first argues that the district court abused its discretion or otherwise erred in failing to consider, credit, or properly weigh evidence that the adoption of the contingency plan would lead to the reestablishment of racially identifiable schools.
The district court has broad discretion over the implementation of its remedial orders. As we stated in Jenkins IV, "a federal court has 'inherent jurisdiction in the exercise of its equitable discretion and subject to appropriate appellate review to vacate or modify its injunctions.' " 931 F.2d at 482 (quoting Booker v. Special School Dist. No. 1, 585 F.2d 347, 352 (8th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 443 U.S. 915, 99 S.Ct. 3106, 61 L.Ed.2d 878 (1979)). School desegregation plans are particularly likely to need adjustment. As the Supreme Court has observed in such cases: " '[E]quity has been characterized by a practical flexibility in shaping its remedies and by a facility for adjusting and reconciling public and private needs.' " Milliken v. Bradley, 433 U.S. 267, 288, 97 S.Ct. 2749, 2761, 53 L.Ed.2d 745 (1977) (Milliken II ) (quoting Brown v. Board of Educ., 349 U.S. 294, 300, 75 S.Ct. 753, 756, 99 L.Ed. 1083 (1955)). The Fifth Circuit recently cited with approval a treatise that stated: " '[A] court must continually be willing to redraft the order at the request of the party who obtained equitable relief in order to insure that the decree accomplishes its intended result.' " United States v. Lawrence County School Dist., 799 F.2d 1031, 1046 (5th Cir.1986) (quoting 11 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 2961 at 599 (1973)).
The State argues that the district court erred or abused its discretion in rejecting the testimony of its expert witnesses who testified about the phenomenon of "tipping." The experts testified that if a minority population at a school reaches a certain level, non-minority students will leave and the school will become all-minority or nearly all-minority, and that this phenomenon is described as "tipping."
The State presented affidavits from Joan Solomon, Director of Urban Education for the State of Missouri, who had been the State's representative to several committees in the St. Louis desegregation case, and Fred Linhardt, Director of Vocational Planning and Evaluation for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the State of Missouri, also a member of one of the committees in the St. Louis case. Solomon testified in her affidavit that "any increase in minority percentage over 60% in Kansas City's magnet schools could well make it significantly more difficult to attract non-minority students to the schools, and to retain present non-minority students." Likewise, Linhardt testified that in his experience it was difficult to attract and retain non-minority students in primarily minority schools, and that he had witnessed tipping in public vocational high schools in St. Louis City and County. He also concluded that increasing the minority percentage in the magnet schools above 60% "could well make it significantly more difficult" to attract and retain non-minority students.
The State argues that its evidence regarding tipping was uncontroverted as KCMSD presented no affidavits, declarations, or documents saying that tipping would not be a problem in the magnet schools. The State also points to decisions of various other courts, as well as this court, recognizing the difficulties attendant to desegregation efforts when minority percentages in schools reach varying higher levels. 2 The district court answered the State's argument by concluding that "[t]he State has failed to provide support for its proposition that allowing the KCMSD to enroll more than 60% minority students in magnet schools would make it more difficult...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Curtis 1000, Inc. v. Youngblade, C 94-4117.
... ... 1243 ... 1. State Or Federal Standards? ... v. Adolph Coors Co., 505 F.Supp. 831, 837 (W.D.Mo.1981) (citing Stockslager ); see also Gateway Eastern ... ...
- Jenkins by Jenkins v. State of Mo.
-
Furminator, Inc. v. Ontel Products Corp.
... ... Braunel, Steven E. Garlock, Thompson Coburn, St. Louis, MO, for Plaintiff ... Jeffrey L. Eichen, ... ...
-
Stanley v. Darlington County School Dist., Civ. No. 4:62-7749-22 (D. S.C. 1996)
... ... See Jenkins v. Missouri, 942 F.2d 487, 493 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, ... Cf. Hopwood v. State of Texas, 78 F.3d 932 (5th Cir. 1996). Remedying the ... ...