Ohio's ACLU has been slamming the Cleveland School District for its plan to open five new same-sex schools this fall. But will the threatened lawsuit hold constitutional water? Doubtful. The U.S. Supreme Court, for example, argued that optional gender-specific schools are constitutional when there is an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for them. Single-sex schools have been proven to stimulate increased achievement elsewhere and Cleveland parents seem to know it. According to polling data, public support in Cleveland for optional same-sex schooling is robust, which doesn't sit well with ACLU pundits who claim that all such schools are a throwback to Jim Crow-style segregation. That's plain wrong, of course, both legally and obviously. Ohio ACLU chief Jeff Gamso said Cleveland's plan is a "throw-it-up-at-the-wall-and-see-if-it-will-stick situation." He had best get out of the way, because it looks like the city plans to start throwing.
"Same-sex schools opposed by ACLU," by Joseph L. Wagner, Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 12, 2007
