Appellate court won't consider reversing class-action ruling in U-46 bias case

The racial bias lawsuit pending against Elgin Area School District U-46 will remain a class-action case, a federal court of appeals ruled Wednesday.

The one-sentence order, handed down by Seventh Circuit Court judges William J. Bauer, Richard D. Cudahy and Richard A. Posner, chose not to review the Northern District Court's Aug. 8 ruling that gives two groups of U-46 students remedies if they prevail in the lawsuit.

If the court rules in favor of the Elgin families accusing the district of racial bias, more than 25,000 current and former students would be affected.

All current Hispanic and black U-46 students who have been subject to racial discrimination in school programs and services would receive remedies, Judge Robert W. Gettleman wrote in his 13-page memorandum opinion and order. Areas where racial discrimination may have occurred, Gettleman said, include instability of student assignments, assignment to non-neighborhood schools, assignment to overcrowded schools and transportation burdens.

All current Hispanic U-46 students receiving bilingual services, those who have received those services in the past four years or those who should have but did not receive bilingual services would also receive remedies.

The district's petition, filed Aug. 22, argued that Gettleman made four "significant legal errors" in analyzing the motion for class-action status, including "assuming plaintiffs' allegations to be true without requiring them to present evidence to support their arguments."

It also claimed that Gettleman improperly certified the two classes.

Attorney Pattie Whitten said the district is disappointed by the decision, but "not necessarily surprised."

The court, Whitten said, rarely grants interlocutory appeals, a legal term for appeals made in the middle of a case.

If the district were to lose the case, Whitten said, "we would still have the option to go up and appeal this issue at the very end of the case. The issue is still alive."

The lawsuit, first filed in February 2005, has cost the district more than $5.9 million in legal fees.

The suit claims U-46 violated the rights of black and Latino students by placing them in older, more crowded schools; forcing them to ride buses longer and more often than their white peers; and providing them with inferior educational opportunities.

The Elgin families want the court to mandate and oversee a plan that ends discriminatory policies and practices.

"I don't know what else the district needs to understand that the case is about thousands of minority kids who have not been getting a fair shake from the district," said Carol Ashley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. "It's time to move forward and address the issues."

In recent weeks, both judges overseeing the case have strongly urged parties to consider settlement talks.

The sides appear before Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason next Wednesday, and before Gettleman on Friday.