Board of Education of the City School District of New York v. Califano

584 F.2d 576, 19 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8972
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 21, 1978
DocketNos. 1121, 1414, Dockets 78-6083, 78-6088
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 584 F.2d 576 (Board of Education of the City School District of New York v. Califano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Education of the City School District of New York v. Califano, 584 F.2d 576, 19 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8972 (2d Cir. 1978).

Opinion

OAKES, Circuit Judge:

Consolidated appeals raise the important question whether in passing upon applications for grants of. Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA)1 funds the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) must apply a constitutional standard of intentional discrimination as delineated by the Supreme Court2 or whether the ESAA [578]*578as supplemented by HEW regulations permits application of a disproportionate impact standard of discrimination. Appellants are respectively the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York (the Central Board) and the Community School Board (CSB) of Community School District 11 (District 11).

The two school boards sued to enjoin HEW from holding them ineligible for ESAA assistance. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Jack B. Weinstein, Judge, initially upheld HEW’s denial of ESAA funds. But upon the Central Board’s motion for rear-gument, the district court vacated its prior decision and remanded the matter to HEW for “further consideration” to determine if the school boards’ disqualification resulted from unconstitutional discrimination as well as from violations of the applicable regulations. After remand the district court affirmed HEW’s conclusion that substantial evidence warranted a finding of both unconstitutional discrimination and discrimination in violation of the ESAA. Accordingly, it entered a final order granting judgment in favor of HEW. We affirm the judgment on the basis that the standards of the statute and regulation have been satisfied.

I. Statutory Scheme

On an annual basis, the ESAA provides special assistance to local educational agencies and other eligible organizations to achieve three basic statutory objectives:

(1) to meet the special needs incident to the elimination of minority group segregation and discrimination among students and faculty in elementary and secondary schools;

(2) encourage the voluntary elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial proportions of minority group students; and

(3) to aid school children in overcoming the educational disadvantages of minority group isolation.

20 U.S.C. § 1601(b). Thus, the ESAA is a program purposefully designed “to aid in desegregating schools and support quality integrated schools.” 3

[579]*579Each year that an application for ESAA assistance is submitted, the application is evaluated and the eligibility of the applicant reviewed. ESAA funds are awarded to qualified applicants in the order in which their applications are ranked. The ranking depends on compliance with specified guidelines and criteria, the most important being “objective” in nature. 45 C.F.R. § 185.-14(a), (b) & (c).4 The ESAA program is competitive in nature since the amount appropriated by Congress is less than the total amount of the grants sought; only those applications which meet ESAA objectives to the greatest extent possible are the ones which receive the awards. Id. § 185.-14(c)(4).

In addition to filing applications which are timely5 and which meet the minimal technical/qualitative criteria, see 20 U.S.C. §§ 1605(a), 1606-09;6 45 C.F.R. § 185.14,7 the applicant must establish that it has not engaged in any of the four disqualifying acts, practices, policies or procedures condemned by the statutes and regulations. 20 U.S.C. § 1605(d)(1);8 45 C.F.R. § 185.13(f).9 [580]*580The Assistant Secretary for Education may not approve the application unless it is determined by the Secretary that the applicant is not ineligible. See 20 U.S.C. § 1605(d)(4).10 While the statute itself forbids discrimination in the hiring, promotion or assignment of teachers, note 8 supra, the pertinent regulation in this case is 45 C.F.R. § 185.43(b)(2).11 In substance, the regulation makes ineligible for assistance an edu[581]*581cational agency which after June 23, 1972, has utilized a procedure resulting, inter alia, in the discriminatory “assignment of full-time classroom teachers to the schools of such agency in such a manner as to identify any of such schools as intended for students of a particular race, color, or national origin."12

II. Underlying Facts

Teaching and supervisory appointments to public schools in New York City are now and have traditionally been made by the Chancellor of the Central Board. High School teachers are appointed by the Chancellor from a list of eligible candidates.13 The list of eligible candidates is prepared by the Board of Examiners, which' ranks each candidate on the basis of a competitive examination.14

In 1969 the New York City school system was “decentralized” and thirty-two separate community school districts (CSDs) were established. Each CSD was vested [582]*582with primary authority over the operation of the elementary and junior high schools within its district.15 Although the Chancellor alone appoints high school teachers, elementary and junior high school teachers may be appointed in either of two ways. One of these is the traditional method of assignment by the Chancellor. The community school boards must abide by the Chancellor’s designation.16 However, the Chancellor “insofar as practicable shall give effect to the requests for assignment of specific persons by the community board.17 An alternative method is available for use only in those elementary and junior high schools whose students rank in the lower 45% on a comprehensive reading examination which is administered annually to students in schools within the jurisdiction of the local community districts.18 The community school districts may directly appoint teachers to such “45% schools” if the individual has passed either a qualifying examination prepared by the Board of Examiners or the National Teachers Examination.19

Irrespective of how the teachers are appointed, ultimate control still remains with the Chancellor. He retains the power to rescind illegal teacher assignments and to compel a local board’s compliance with all applicable provisions of law.20

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Related

Sobel v. Yeshiva University
566 F. Supp. 1166 (S.D. New York, 1983)
Board of Education of the City School District v. Califano
464 F. Supp. 1114 (E.D. New York, 1979)
Ste. Marie v. Eastern R. Ass'n
458 F. Supp. 1147 (S.D. New York, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
584 F.2d 576, 19 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8972, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-education-of-the-city-school-district-of-new-york-v-califano-ca2-1978.