A federal judge will hear arguments Thursday in an attempt by the state of Florida to scuttle a potential class-action lawsuit that alleges discrimination against FAMU in funding and programs.
Attorney for the state will argue that U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle should dismiss the case, in part contending that the disputed policies are not “traceable” to de jure segregation — segregation sanctioned by law.
The lawsuit, filed by the Grant & Eisenhofer law firm and Miami civil-rights attorney Josh Dubin, raises a series of issues that it contends shows discrimination against FAMU. It names as defendants the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state university system’s Board of Governors, university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, the State Board of Education and state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
“Unnecessary academic program duplication is harmful not only because it perpetuates a dual system but also because the greater the duplication the less likely that non-core quality programs can be adequately supported since resources are spread out over more programs,” the lawsuit said.
But the state’s motion to dismiss claims the joint engineering school, which was created in 1982, “falls well short of establishing a policy traceable to de jure segregation.”
“In any event, the joint college is not even an example of program duplication that attempts to perpetuate segregation; it is the antithesis of a segregative program,” the state’s motion said. “Students in the joint college enroll at either FAMU or FSU but attend engineering courses together in a shared building. Far from perpetuating the practice of ‘separate but equal,’ the joint college aims to join students of FAMU and FSU together under one roof.” (see: FSU gets millions for new engineering faculty; FAMU gets zero ; Feds warn Florida about splitting engineering school ; and Newspaper Editor tells FSU Prez to stop singing tired separate but equal song in E-school split )
Another example of issues in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs contend that a state system of performance-based funding “severely disadvantages FAMU.” The lawsuit said the system, which awards money to universities based on various measurements, doesn’t take into account factors such as the socioeconomic backgrounds of students served by schools.
“The metrics used to determine the funding awarded to Florida’s public universities favor students who have better access to resources and support, resources which help ensure academic success at the post-secondary education level,” the lawsuit said. “This includes, by way of example college preparatory coursework and standardized testing support, allowing those students to more likely achieve higher testing scores, complete their first year of university, and ultimately graduate, among other things. Underrepresented minority students and socioeconomically challenged students are often the first generation of college student in their family, may have social or economic barriers, may work while pursuing their course of study, and have less access to resources and support.”
But in the motion to dismiss case, the state maintains that the performance-based funding system “uses wholly neutral benchmarks.”
“Simply put, the funding model seeks to reward institutions who have better student outcomes with increased funding, not diminish the performance of historically black institutions,” attorneys for the state wrote.
The lawsuit claims that,“throughout its history and up to the present, Florida has intentionally and consistently engaged in racial discrimination by maintaining a dual and unequal system of higher education, including by providing disparate funding and duplicating non-core FAMU programs, that has and continues to perpetuate de jure segregation in Florida’s higher education system and has prevented FAMU from achieving parity with Florida’s public traditionally white institutions.”
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