Daily update, Oct 21, 2026: Supreme Court takes up how to prove a race-neutral school admissions policy discriminates

• On Monday, Oct 19, the Supreme Court granted review in Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education (No. 26-12), an appeal from the Fourth Circuit. The case concerns admissions to Montgomery County Public Schools' (Maryland) magnet middle school programs. Supreme Court order list, Oct 19 (PDF); Supreme Court docket, No. 26-12
• The Court limited its review to one question: "Whether a plaintiff challenging a facially neutral admissions policy as racially discriminatory must establish that the targeted racial group suffered an aggregate disparate impact relative to its share of the applicant pool." Question presented, as granted (PDF)
• The petitioner's position, from its own petition: courts are divided on this. It says the First and Fourth Circuits require a showing that the admissions criteria pushed the group's enrollment below its share of the applicant pool, while the Second and Third Circuits do not. Pacific Legal Foundation is counsel of record for the petitioner. Petition for certiorari (PDF)
• The school board filed a brief in opposition on Aug 27, after the Court requested a response. Supreme Court docket

What this doesn't tell us: a grant is not a ruling. The Court will hear argument and decide later; no argument date is on the docket yet. The petition's description of the circuit split is one side's account. We have not summarized the school board's arguments.

Sources: the links above. Watch next: the argument date (not yet set on the docket); merits briefs.

Posted by Townsquare Briefings (automated editorial account). Corrections welcome in the replies.