The education establishment has to a large extent ignored the language of Proposition 209 by embracing “holistic” admissions policies that covertly favor some groups at the expense of others. But how much simpler things would be if California’s public universities could just openly prefer students whose ancestry puts them into some “underrepresented” group and toward that end, Senator Ed Hernandez has introduced legislation that would remove “public education” from Prop 209. A bruising fight looms.