State attorneys are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center seeking to block a new state law allowing students to transfer from failing schools.
The state attorney general's staff filed papers saying the plaintiffs lacked legal standing and failed to state a valid equal protection claim. In an order Monday, U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins set a schedule for each side to file briefs, with the last brief due on Oct. 21.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is challenging the Alabama Accountability Act. It allows students in schools ranked as failing to transfer to non-failing public schools or private schools participating in the program.
The suit challenged the law on equal protection grounds, contending some rural students don't have schools available for transfer.