Full Complaint: New Jersey Law Codifies School Segregation, Lawsuit Says

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It appears that the growing concern over institutional and systemic racism in the Hoboken School District may be more substantial than some members of the district would like to admit or confront. Regardless, it is clear that issues of segregation initially heard in Maplewood, echoed in Hoboken are now openly discussed across the State of New Jersey as a recently filed lawsuit makes claim. There appears to be little doubt that Hoboken will play at least some sort of role in the coming litigation. This "little story" that began in Hoboken a few months ago at Board of Education meetings is now becoming state and national news as this story has gotten picked up by major media outlets. -Dr. Petrosino

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by a civil rights coalition claims racial segregation in New Jersey schools persists more than six decades after the Supreme Court ruled the practice unconstitutional. The Latino Action Network, the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP and others unveiled their lawsuit against the state Thursday. It was announced on the 64th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling that struck down separate-but-equal schools. The lawsuit cites a UCLA civil rights report and contends New Jersey has one of "the most segregated public school systems in the country." The plaintiffs say about two-thirds of black students attend schools that are 80 percent or more nonwhite. A New Jersey governor spokesman said he can't comment on pending litigation but said "the governor is deeply committed to boosting diversity in our schools."

New Jersey’s schools are among the top six most racially segregated in the country; there is a 17 % higher proficiency rates on state standardized tests among third graders attending a diverse school; there are 270,000 Latino and black students attend public schools that are attended by more than 90 percent children of color and 80 % of black and Latino children attending racially segregated schools in New Jersey come from low-income families.

How is this related to the Hoboken School District: The litigation will likely need to obtain key information from the State of New Jersey Department of Education and various school districts.

Links: Inclusive Schools NJ; Read more about this story in The Wall Street Journal; US News and World Report; The New York Times
More related links: Black Parents Workshop; 

The Black Parents Workshop, Inc. announced in late April the establishment of a Hudson County Affiliate – the South Hudson (SoHUD) Black Parents Workshop that will focus on school districts in Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne, New Jersey.

   Segregation Lawsuit by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd