Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court have more potential local ramifications than most:
In a pair of cases that could reignite disputes over race and public education, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide what role affirmative action should play in assigning students to competitive spots in elementary and secondary schools.
The justices this fall will hear two appeals from Kentucky and Washington state.
A ruling could help clarify when and to what lengths state and local officials can go to promote diversity in K-12 education.
Fort Wayne has gone to extraordinary lengths to "promote diversity in K-12 education." In response to a lawsuit and intense pressure from the federal government, Fort Wayne Community Schools basically deconstructed itself and was rebuilt into something in which "racial balance" in each school was the primary education goal, which involves magnet schools to encourage parents to send their kids to schools all over the city and the end of the traditional connection between where one lived and where one went to school.
Some people think it's all been worth it, and that if these Supreme Court cases threatened the status quo here it would be a tragedy:
Court observers believe the decision to hear the appeals means the Supreme Court will begin to chip away at the tools schools and universities have effectively used to break down racial barriers. If that's the case, it would be unfortunate for all students affected. In Fort Wayne, residents should point to a system of schools strengthened by their diversity and to students well prepared for a society in which people of all colors and cultures must live and work in harmony.
"Schools strengthened by their diversity" is what supporters of the FWCS program usually say. But you usually hit what you aim at. If diversity or "racial balance" is the goal, that is what you will achieve; if you get any educational advances as a side benefit, all well and good, but they're certainly not guaranteed. Diversity is a societal goal, not an educational one (yes, yes, I know, they can overlap). I'd still like to see public schools primarily concerned with producing students who can read, write, do arithmetic and think clearly. I notice that supporters of all the heroic efforts to achieve racial balance seldom point to clear educational advantages. How can they, since public schools have been disintegrating for decades? Even if gains could be documented, which is doubtful, how does that balance against the elimination of the neighborhood school, which was an institution that held some challenged neighborhoods together?
Consider just two effects of magnet or "choice" programs, one touching all students and one just minority students.
1. Students are encouraged to choose themed middle schools -- ones emphasizing, say, the arts or aeronautics or whatever. If these kids aren't aiming toward a certain career, what's the point, and what aspects of a broader education have they lost by so much specialization? Most kids don't even begin to think about what to do with their lives until about halfway through high school, if then, and they probably shouldn't.
2. The sociological research used for Brown vs. Board of Education, which started all this, included the reason (cited by justices) that "separate but equal" schools are inherently unequal -- even if offerings are equal, the black students know they are being treated differently because of their race, and that has a psychological effect that can never be overcome. The goal of racial-balance plans is to assign students to schools because of their race. Blacks know very well this is all about them. Why wouldn't the psychological effect be the same? How often when the education etablishment says "White students must be exposed to other races so they won't be so isolated" (and that's the real message, no matter how it's expressed) do black students really hear "They don't think we'll get a good education unless we're in classes with a bunch of white students"?
I went to Central High School during its most racially mixed days, so I know both the value of diversity and what the other high schools were missing by not having it. I also understand the need to have a society in racial and ethnic harmony. But I don't think people really thought through the "getting there from here" part, and we've done damage to the education system that we might never be able to undo.
