posted on June 28, 2007 10:39:00 AM Supreme Court rejects school race plans
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 24 minutes ago
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected diversity plans in two major school districts that take race into account in assigning students but left the door open for using race in limited circumstances.
The decision in cases affecting schools in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle could imperil similar plans in hundreds of districts nationwide, and it further restricts how public school systems may attain racial diversity.
The court split, 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the court's judgment. The court's four liberal justices dissented.
The districts "failed to show that they considered methods other than explicit racial classifications to achieve their stated goals," Roberts said.
Yet Justice Anthony Kennedy would not go as far as the other four conservative justices, saying in a concurring opinion that race may be a component of school plans designed to achieve diversity.
To the extent that Roberts' opinion could be interpreted to foreclose the use of race in any circumstance, Kennedy said, "I disagree with that reasoning."
He agreed with Roberts that the plans in Louisville and Seattle violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by the other liberals on the court, said Roberts' opinion undermined the promise of integrated schools that the court laid out 53 years ago in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
"To invalidate the plans under review is to threaten the promise of Brown," Breyer said.
The two school systems in Thursday's decisions employ slightly different methods of taking students' race into account when determining which school they will attend.
Federal appeals courts had upheld both plans after some parents sued. The Bush administration took the parents' side, arguing that racial diversity is a noble goal but can be sought only through race-neutral means.
Louisville's schools spent 25 years under a court order to eliminate the effects of state-sponsored segregation. After a federal judge freed the Jefferson County, Ky., school board, which encompasses Louisville, from his supervision, the board decided to keep much of the court-ordered plan in place to prevent schools from re-segregating.
The lawyer for the Louisville system called the plan a success story that enjoys broad community support, including among parents of white and black students.
Attorney Teddy Gordon, who argued that the Louisville system's plan was discriminatory, said, "Clearly, we need better race-neutral alternatives. Instead of spending zillions of dollars around the country to place a black child next to a white child, let's reduce class size. All the schools are equal. We will no longer accept that an African-American majority within a school is unacceptable."
Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson said he was disappointed with the ruling because Louisville's system had provided "a quality education for all students and broken down racial barriers" for 30 years.
He said he was confident school leaders effective new guidelines.
The Seattle school district said it used race as one among many factors, relied on it only in some instances and then only at the end of a lengthy process in allocating students among the city's high schools. Seattle suspended its program after parents sued.
The opinion was the first on the divisive issue since 2003, when a 5-4 ruling upheld the limited consideration of race in college admissions to attain a diverse student body. Since then, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who approved of the limited use of race, retired. Her replacement, Justice Samuel Alito was in the majority that struck down the school system plans in Kentucky and Washington.
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posted on June 28, 2007 08:35:35 PM
Agreed. No wonder we're still having these race issues. They've just reversed the discrimination away from some and onto others.
Glad to see the USSC can see that.
Thank you, President Bush, for your USSC nominations.
posted on June 29, 2007 07:33:46 AM
Got your white sheets washed and ironed ????
Actually I dont iron them, they are in the closet with all the other fitted and flat king size sheets.
But in you snide manner, I take it you are actually attempting to make a raciest issue of the ruling. But it wont wash because the ruling equally applies to ALL races.
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.George S. Patton
[ edited by Bear1949 on Jun 29, 2007 07:39 AM ]
posted on June 29, 2007 12:11:39 PM
What this means is that race alone cannot be the only factor for diversity in schools. What it does mean is that school districts can use it, but only amongst a diverse group of factors.
What I think would actually be quite funny is a random lottery of students ends up placing a large population of low-income minorities into a rich neighborhood school, while sending the others to the schools that don't get enough money to update 20 year old textbooks.
See how much of an uproar that would cause!!! I can see BearPorn and Lindumb@ss ironing their white hoods right about now.
posted on June 29, 2007 04:37:58 PM
wrong....rusty filthy mouth.
It's been shown that both black and white parents want their children to stay in their own school districts. NOT be bussed 28 miles or more each way to please some wacko liberal group that thinks sending small children all over the state is the way to 'make things fair'.
There are other ways to insure all children are given the same education, without LIBERALS forcing them so the liberals feel good about themselves.
And this ruling says race can ONLY be used as a last resort.
