NYT Comments on Desegregation case before the Supreme Court

The Time is reporting on the Supreme Court litigation challenging the use of race in Seattle’s "open choice" enrollment program. They cover the development in the courtroom in "Supreme Court Case Focuses on Race and Schools" and come down in favor of the Seattle and Louisville plans in this editorial: "An Assault on Local School Control"

The Louisville and Seattle plans are precisely the kind of benign race-based policies that the court has long held to be constitutional. Promoting diversity in education is a compelling state interest under the equal protection clause, and these districts are using carefully considered, narrowly tailored plans to make their schools more diverse.

It is startling to see the Justice Department, which was such a strong advocate for integration in the civil rights era, urging the court to strike down the plans. Its position is at odds with so much the Bush administration claims to believe. The federal government is asking federal courts to use the Constitution to overturn educational decisions made by localities. Conservative activists should be crying "judicial activism," but they do not seem to mind this activism with an anti-integration agenda.

If you have not been paying attention to this case, this is a good time to catch up. This case will have a direct bearing on SFUSD, especially if the BOE chooses to re-introduce race into our enrollment policies.