MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A nearly 30-year-old racial bias case that revamped the way Alabama tests teachers for certification ended today after a federal judge dismissed it because no challenges were filed.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson closed the case after the filing period ended for challenges to the subject matter tests the state resumed giving in 2006.
Teachers in Alabama are required to take the Praxis II exam in order to get their certificate or be certified in a new area.
State education officials said they would comment on the case later. Others involved in the case, including lead plaintiff Margaret Allen, also declined comment Wednesday.
The case began in 1981 when historically black Alabama State University and some of its students filed suit contending new subject matter tests, which were developed in Alabama, were racially biased. Five years later, the state agreed to drop the tests after a State Board of Education agreement not to use any teacher’s exam where the difference in the failure rate between races was more than 5 percent.