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Latinos seeking jobs and affordable housing have transformed Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in recent decades, but a federal lawsuit alleges that the way local school board members are elected unfairly puts the school board out of power. He claims to be locked out.
Nearly two-thirds of Hazleton Area School District students are Hispanic, but no Hispanic person has ever been elected to the school board, and non-Hispanic white voters use the district’s “at-large” voting system. His decision to be elected to the Board of Education is being challenged in court. Please leave it as is.
In February, two mothers with children registered in anthracite districts called for changes to the system, saying it weakens their voting power and violates the federal Voting Rights Act and their constitutional right to equal protection of the laws. filed a lawsuit.
The district’s 78,000 residents are about 55% white, 40% Hispanic and 5% black, Asian or multiracial, with a high concentration of Hispanics in the Hazleton area, according to the complaint. That’s what it means. Hazleton is one of several small cities in eastern Pennsylvania whose Latino population has grown to the point where it could have a significant impact on elections, including this year’s hotly contested presidential and U.S. Senate races.
The plaintiffs allege in their lawsuit that the Hazleton Board of Commissioners is “grossly unresponsive” to the needs of the area’s Hispanic residents.
“These include disparate student discipline, student registration procedures based on unfair stereotypes, school understaffing, lack of qualified interpreters, and lack of effective communication with parents,” according to the complaint. including, but not limited to, ignoring serious concerns about
The school district requires three separate proofs of address to establish residency for students wishing to enroll in the school. A bilingual sign to that effect is posted at the entrance to the administration building, with “MUST THREE” underlined and “NO EXCEPTIONS” written. Added by hand.
Latino leaders say such evidence can be difficult to produce for people who are new to the country and who may not have stable living situations. Some say school translators are overworked and understaffed. It is also believed that students without advanced English skills may be subject to more severe disciplinary action.
“We’re in a very conservative area,” said Vianey Castro, a Democrat from the Dominican Republic who lost Hazleton’s mayoral race in November by about 25 percentage points. “They refused to change. And everything that is happening around us is change.”
Hazleton Area School Board Chairman Tony Bonomo said it might be fairer to elect voters by region, but he and other incumbent school board members are unlikely to initiate such a change. Ta.
“I think that’s probably close to happening,” said Bonomo, a seven-term Democrat. “It almost has to be. When it’s 60% Latino or whatever, something has to happen.”
Lawyers for the school district argued in a motion last month to dismiss the lawsuit that the two plaintiffs lack standing to sue under the Voting Rights Act and that the electorate is divided more along partisan lines than racial or ethnic lines.
“Plaintiffs argue that the Hispanic voter group is politically cohesive and that the white majority typically votes well enough to defeat minority-supported candidates. Both assumptions are categorically refuted by partisan realities,” the committee’s lawyers wrote.
The school board’s nine, all-white members are elected by the entire district, a system of at-large elections adopted by the school board in 1989 amid policy debates over spending. Previously, board members were elected from small areas within the school district.
According to the Pennsylvania Education Association, like the Hazleton area, 310 of the state’s 500 school boards are elected entirely by the entire district, 175 are elected entirely by the district, and 15 are district-wide. school boards are using a hybrid system.
The Hazleton Standard-Speaker reported in February that the Hazleton Area School Board has twice filled vacancies with non-Hispanics in recent years.
Bethlehem Area School District settled a similar federal lawsuit in 2008 over its decision to bypass two Hispanic candidates and appoint a white person to fill a vacant seat. Under the settlement, three geographic seats were created in Bethlehem, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Hazleton, while the remaining six seats continue to be fully elected.
The influx of new residents has been a perennial theme of conflict in Hazleton. The City Council approved the Illegal Immigrant Relief Act in July 2006, denying business licenses to businesses that employ illegal aliens, imposing fines on landlords who rent to them, and requiring tenants to register and pay rental permit fees. I asked that it be made compulsory. A federal judge invalidated the ordinance.
State Rep. Manny Guzman, a Democrat from Reading and vice chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Latino Caucus, said the state’s burgeoning Latino population is growing as political power looks to reflect raw numbers. He said he was experiencing pain.
“We need to do a better job of encouraging voters to vote and building benches within each region,” Guzman said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed documents supporting the ability of private plaintiffs, including the two women suing the Hazleton district, to make such challenges under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
