Education Equity
Representative Cases
People Who Care v. Rockford Board of Education School District 205, 851 F.Supp. 905 (N.D. Ill. 1994). This is a school desegregation case brought by a class of concerned parents and their children against the Board of Education of the City of Rockford, Illinois. The complaint alleged intentional segregation of minority students on a system-wide basis in the Rockford public schools. After a lengthy trial, the federal magistrate who heard the evidence found that the school district had "committed such open acts of discrimination as to be cruel and committed others with such subtlety as to raise discrimination to an art form." In February 1994 Judge Roszkowski issued a finding of system-wide liability against the Rockford Board of Education and in a 303-page Opinion, adopted virtually in toto the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation after a trial on the merits. In 1995 and 1996, the Firm represented the plaintiffs in a prolonged hearing resulting in the adoption by the District Court of a Comprehensive Remedial Order.
Johnson, et. al., v. Board of Education of Champaign Unit School District #4, 2002 WL 181776 (C.D. Ill. 2002). In an era when most desegregation cases are being dismissed from dockets across the country, a federal court entered a consent decree approving private settlements addressing racial discrimination. The consent decree incorporated two private settlements in 1997 and 1998 respectively, one regarding student assignment and another, negotiated by the Firm on behalf of African-American students, regarding student performance and participation. Click here for information about the Johnson v. Board of Education Champaign Community Unit School District #4 Case.
Delgado, et. al v. U-46 Board of Education (N.D. IL 05 C 0760). Brought in February 2005, this groundbreaking lawsuit alleged that the second largest public school in Illinois, spanning from Elgin to Schaumburg in the Northwest suburbs, discriminated against Latino students in student assignment and failed to provide equal educational opportunities to Latino bilingual students. Drawing media coverage from around Illinois and the country, this case delves into educational debates involving such issues as the No Child Left Behind Act and neighborhood schools.
Thomas v. DeVry Institute, 86 C 7428 (N.D. Ill). This was a class action Title VII race discrimination case which was settled on the eve of trial.
United States v. Chicago Board of Education, 554 F. Supp. 912 (N.D. Ill. 1983). For fifteen years, the firm represented the Chicago Board of Education in a school desegregation lawsuit in which a consent decree was negotiated with the United States in 1980. The consent decree required adoption and implementation of a system-wide desegregation plan, in the course of which the Firm provided counsel to the members of the Chicago School Board and the General Superintendent of Schools. After two trials and two appeals concerning the obligation of the United States to provide funding under the terms of the consent decree, the funding issue was settled when Congress legislated a grant of $80 million for use by the Chicago School Board in implementing desegregation programs
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