Most federal magnet school grants fail constitutional review under recent Supreme Court precedents, federal government lawyers concluded in a new legal opinion.
In other words, the grants trigger and fail strict scrutiny—the toughest legal test—meaning the government almost certainly can’t justify the race-based approach.
The opinion, released Nov. 5 by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), advises the Department of Education that the Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP), as it is currently structured and run, violates equal protection requirements in most cases.
The office provides legal advice to the president and the executive branch. Its opinions do not carry the same legal weight as court-issued opinions but are considered binding within the executive branch….