LARRY P. V. RILES, 793 F.2d 969 (9th Cir. 1984). Critical case on student testing and disproportionate placement of minority students in special education. This case had two phases separated by seven years: the granting of the preliminary injunction in 1972, affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals* in 1974, followed by a decision on the merits of the case in 1979, affirmed in 1980. In 1984 the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's order to eliminate disproportionate placement of minority students in special education.
In 1971 the plaintiffs, black children attending the San Francisco public schools, charged that their placement in educable mentally retarded (EMR) classes was discriminatory because the IQ tests used in their placement were culturally biased. (Students with scores lower than 75 were considered EMR on the state test.) The plaintiffs had the children retested by black psychologists who made attempts to establish rapport with the students before testing, reduce distractions, and give credit for answers in the language and culture of these students. All then received scores above 75. The court accepted the argument that irreparable harm would come from EMR placement because the placement remained on a student's permanent record, the educational program was limited, and the student would be stigmatized.
The plaintiffs argued that the testing procedure in the San Francisco schools violated the equal protection clause* of the Fourteenth Amendment* because black children were disproportionately harmed by the process. They did not argue that the fact that black students were more than twice as likely to be placed in EMR classes in the city was based on explicit racial discrimination,* only that the effect of the procedure was to harm black children. The plaintiffs