DOJ joins lawsuit against LAUSD’s race-based program

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(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is looking to intervene in a lawsuit that challenges a Los Angeles Unified School District taxpayer-funded program that allegedly uses racial demographics to determine school funding.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by the 1776 Project Foundation, targets the second-largest school districts, Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other, or PHBAO Program, alleging that it violates federal and state law. 

According to the complaint, the PHBAO Program categorizes student residents within the LA school district into two groups: “Anglo,” meaning white, and non-Anglo. 

Roughly 90% of its schools are given "special" funding as predominantly non-White schools, the complaint states. 

“Treating Americans equally is not a suggestion — it is a core constitutional guarantee that educational institutions must follow,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a news release. 

The Center Square reached out to LAUSD for comment, but a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said the district is unable to discuss the specifics of the case, adding that it “remains firmly committed to ensuring all students have meaningful access to services and enriching educational opportunities.”

Aiden Buzzetti, president of the 1776 Project Foundation, told The Center Square that the organization brought the lawsuit on behalf of a member it says was harmed by the program and they plan to hold officials accountable for its “illegal policies,” Buzzetti said. 

Buzzetti called the program a “misguided allocation of taxpayer dollars,” arguing that existing laws already provide mechanisms for directing additional resources to disadvantaged students. He said the district’s use of racial classifications affects teacher-to-student ratios, school funding and magnet school application points.

The lawsuit asks the court to “vindicate their rights to access educational opportunities without regard to the race, color, or national origin of themselves or their neighbors who reside within the zones assigned to their particular schools.” 

The DOJ’s motion to intervene remains pending before the court.