Later this year, probably toward the end of June, the Supreme Court will reveal its decision in the pair of “affirmative action” cases it heard last October. It seems that the Court is (finally) ready to say that admission preferences for students from certain racial groups violates the law. If that happens, then what — other than a great deal of whining from the Left?
In this Quillette essay, attorney Harvey Silverglate imagines “A World Beyond Affirmative Action.” He suggests that the country ought to look to changes that would actually make a difference for those groups the education establishment has been trying to help with admission preferences:
My own guess—and hope—is that the lower echelons of the public educational system, from kindergarten through high school, will rise to the occasion and take the drastic steps needed to improve the education of all public-school students. This might entail reforms such as (1) curbing the influence of teachers’ unions in inhibiting educational innovations, (2) adequately funding public education, and (3) assisting societal reforms to reverse dysfunctional family patterns that disadvantage racial and ethnic minority students educationally.
Of those ideas, I like the first and third. Public education is more than adequately funded. The problem is that so much of the money is wasted and school standards are laughable.
Still, the reaction from “progressives” will be interesting to watch. Will any dare to say that racial preferences were a mistake and that it’s time to do other things to improve education for minorities? I doubt it.