Portland Father Sues School District Over Race-Based School Funding
The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) has filed a federal lawsuit against Portland Public Schools challenging twin district policies that allocate additional staff and resources based on the racial makeup of the school and that eliminated parent-led fundraising for local schools.
CIR represents Richard Raseley, a Portland father who has spent years supporting his daughters’ public schools. He served as head of his younger daughter’s local school foundation for two years. Now, Raseley and other parents volunteer to provide essential school functions, including washing lunch trays in the cafeteria , as the district does not adequately fund even basic staff.
“I’ve watched my daughter’s school lose critical staff—not because we lacked community support or funding, but because district bureaucrats decided our school had the wrong racial makeup,” CIR client Richard Raseley said. “I’m not asking for anything special. I just want to support my own kid’s school without the district imposing racial barriers.”
Since Portland’s 2013 adoption of an “equity allocation” formula, K-8 schools receive additional staffing if at least 40% of their students are “historically underserved.” While that phrase includes students with special-education needs or limited English proficiency, it also is defined to include four specific racial groups: African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander. Schools below that threshold receive fewer resources, even when their poverty rates, academic performance and classroom needs are otherwise equal.
“The Constitution forbids public schools from distributing resources based on race, even if it is just one independent factor,” said lead attorney Robert Renner. “Portland’s policy does exactly that. It’s unconstitutional and undermines the promise of equal opportunity for every student.”
Additionally, Portland dismantled local school fundraising foundations in May 2024, replacing them with a centralized system that pools donations and redistributes them according to “equity and social justice values.” Under this system, parents can no longer direct contributions to their own children’s schools. The impact has been dramatic. Fundraising collapsed by more than 80%—from $3.4 million in the final year of local foundations to just over $593,000 under the current system.
Raseley is spearheading Families for Fair School Funding, a nonpartisan coalition of parents and residents advocating for fair and transparent school funding in Portland.
“This is about more than just my daughter’s school,” Raseley said. “It’s about restoring basic fairness and empowering parents to support their local schools. Every Portland Public Schools student deserves equal access to the resources they need to learn and thrive.”
About the Center for Individual Rights
The Center for Individual Rights is a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights, with particular emphasis on civil rights and free speech. CIR provides free legal representation to deserving clients whose individual rights are threatened.
Raseley is also represented by Portland attorneys at Kell, Alterman & Runstein, L.L.P.