Worcester wonât fight lawsuit aimed at diversifying school committee
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By deciding not to fight a voting rights lawsuit, Worcesterâs elected officials became the latest in Massachusetts to abandon an electoral method that constituents called discriminatory.
Worcester City Council committed earlier this month to changing the cityâs all-at-large system of electing school committee members in response to a suit filed in federal court in February.
âThe trend is clear, which is toward more representative government and away from electoral systems that pose structural barriers to communities of color,â said Oren Sellstrom, litigation director for Lawyers for Civil Rights. The nonprofit legal organization championed the Worcester suit and others that have nearly extinguished all-at-large voting in large Massachusetts cities.