Supreme Court to decide how families prove race bias in Maryland magnet-school admissions

The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a challenge to the lottery-based admissions policy at four magnet middle schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, setting up a ruling on what evidence families must show before a discrimination claim against a facially neutral admissions policy can reach a judge (ASTIG.PH, Washington Examiner).

The case, Association for Education Fairness v Montgomery County Board of Education, concerns schools including Takoma Park Middle School and Martin Luther King Jr Middle School. The process screens fifth graders on grades, reading levels and test scores, compares them against peers at their own school rather than district-wide, then selects entrants by lottery. The Association for Education Fairness — an Asian American parents’ group represented free of charge by the Pacific Legal Foundation — argues the school-by-school comparison excludes Asian American pupils who would have qualified district-wide.

The justices limited their review to one question: whether a plaintiff challenging a facially neutral policy as racially discriminatory must show the targeted group suffered “an aggregate disparate impact relative to its share of the applicant pool”.

US District Judge Paula Xinis dismissed the suit in July 2022, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed in February 2026. The board calls it a “race-neutral, race-blind lottery”. Counsel for the board-supporting coalition — including the NAACP’s Montgomery County branch and the Legal Defense Fund — said the grant “is not a ruling on the merits”, calling the policies “lawful, race-neutral, evidence-backed”. Oral arguments are expected early in 2027, with a decision by the end of June.