Ben Jordan:

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, known as WILL, claims the district would be violating the constitution for ‘racial balancing’.

The Wauwatosa School Board is mulling plans to close WSTEM Elementary School. A district task force report says the school currently lacks diversity.

Watch: TMJ4’s Ben Jordan investigates potential legal action involving Wawautosa’s STEM programs. 

WILL claims it would be illegal to move forward with that plan.

“Why does WILL believe shutting down this school would be illegal?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.

“The U.S. Constitution prohibits what’s called racial balancing which is to try to balance the type of students you have in a district based on their race,” said WILL attorney Dan Lennington.

Lennington sent a letter to the Wauwatosa School District superintendent Tuesday, saying the district, “has ‘no authority…. to use race as a factor in affording educational opportunities among its citizens.’”

Curiously, Madison taxpayers funded the expansion of two of its least diverse schools a few years ago: Van Hise elementary and Hamilton Middle.