最高法院受理蒙哥马利县磁石学校招生案 亚裔家长团体挑战「表面中立」招生政策
马里兰州蒙哥马利县——美国最高法院10月19日宣布受理「教育公平协会诉蒙哥马利县教育委员会」一案，审理该县四所公立磁石初中（包括 Takoma Park Middle School 与 Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School）的招生政策争议。最高法院此次受理只限于一个先决问题：一项表面上不按种族分类的招生政策被指构成种族歧视时，原告是否必须先证明受影响族群在录取者中所占的整体比例低于其在申请者中所占的比例，才能让案件进入审理。
争议源于两步改革。2016年，蒙哥马利县公立学校在一份顾问报告批评磁石项目的族裔构成之后重写招生标准，改为主要以学生在本校同年级同学中的相对表现来评量申请人；亚裔学生高度集中在少数几所高分小学，新标准实施后，亚裔学生的录取人数随即下降。2020年新冠疫情期间，该县又在磁石项目招生中加入抽签环节，并沿用至今。
同在2020年，一批亚裔家长组建「教育公平协会」，由太平洋法律基金会（Pacific Legal Foundation）代理起诉，指控招生政策违反宪法第十四修正案的平等保护条款。2022年7月，联邦地区法官 Paula Xinis 驳回诉讼，理由包括亚裔学生在录取者中的比例仍高于其在申请者中的比例、未构成整体上的不利影响；2026年2月，联邦第四巡回上诉法院维持驳回。家长团体随后上诉至最高法院。
太平洋法律基金会高级律师 Chris Kieser 表示：「宪法保护的是作为个体的学生，而不是作为族裔群体成员的学生。学区不能仅凭『受伤害的亚裔孩子不够多』就让歧视指控被驳回。」支持学区政策一方的全国有色人种协进会法律辩护基金（NAACP LDF）等组织则发表联合声明，称现行政策合法、种族中立且有实证依据，旨在让全县学生都有平等机会竞争磁石项目名额。
2023年，最高法院在「学生公平录取」案中终结了大学招生中的种族考量，此后中小学精英项目的招生规则成为新的法律战场。最高法院此前曾拒绝受理弗吉尼亚州费尔法克斯县 Thomas Jefferson 科技高中与波士顿（Boston）考试学校的类似案件；本案是同类争议中首个获最高法院受理的案件，裁决预计在本庭期结束前、即2027年6月底前作出。（GSM 据太平洋法律基金会发布与最高法院案件记录整理）
Supreme Court Takes Up Montgomery County Magnet School Admissions Case Brought by Asian American Parents
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Maryland — The U.S. Supreme Court on October 19 agreed to hear Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, a challenge to the admissions policies of four public magnet middle school programs in Montgomery County, Maryland, including Takoma Park Middle School and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. The justices limited review to a threshold question: whether a plaintiff challenging a facially race-neutral admissions policy as racially discriminatory must first establish that the targeted racial group suffered an aggregate disparate impact relative to its share of the applicant pool.
The dispute traces to two rounds of change. In 2016, after a consultant's report criticized the racial makeup of the magnet programs, Montgomery County Public Schools rewrote its admissions criteria to weigh students largely against classmates at their own elementary schools. Asian American students are clustered in a handful of high-performing schools, and their enrollment in the magnet programs dropped once the new criteria took effect. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the county added a lottery to magnet admissions, which remains in place.
Also in 2020, Asian American parents formed the Association for Education Fairness and, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, sued under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In July 2022, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis dismissed the case, noting in part that Asian American students' share of admitted students still exceeded their share of the applicant pool. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal in February 2026, and the parents appealed to the Supreme Court.
"The Constitution protects students as individuals, not as members of a racial group," said Chris Kieser, a senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation. "A school district should not be able to defeat a discrimination claim by showing that its policy did not harm enough Asian American children." Organizations backing the school board, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said in a joint statement that the admissions policies are lawful, race-neutral and evidence-backed, and give students across the county an equal opportunity to compete for magnet seats.
After the Supreme Court ended race-conscious college admissions in 2023, admissions rules at selective public K-12 programs have become the next legal battleground. The Court previously declined similar challenges involving Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Boston's exam schools; this is the first such case it has agreed to decide. A ruling is expected before the end of the current term in late June 2027. (GSM, based on the Pacific Legal Foundation release and Supreme Court docket records)
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图片来源：图：美国最高法院大楼（资料图）。照片：Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 3.0）。U.S. Supreme Court Building (file photo). Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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