Here’s an editorial by USA Today supporting diversity plans in school districts. It begins in a predictable way by citing integration efforts way back in the 1950s, then goes into the current situation in Seattle and Louisville, which have seen court challenges from white parents. Apart from the facts of those cases, one wonders whether it is possible for proponents of diversity engineering to argue for their side without invoking circumstances from a half century ago. Do they have no other authority than the Civil Rights Movement? Are their contemporary arguments–that diversity improves school performance (a debatable assertion) and that high-minority schools have less qualified teachers (a problem with many causes, including union contracts that prevent higher pay in problem schools)–so weak that they need the moral fervor of the Movement to support their position?