Federal guidance documents, issued jointly on December 2 by the United States Departments of Justice and Education, aim to provide school districts across the country with the information and tools they need to leverage diversity to achieve educational excellence for all children.
The guidance documents highlight the benefits of school diversity and outline constitutional approaches for public school districts, colleges and universities to voluntarily pursue racial integration and diversity. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law says it appreciates the Departments of Justice and Education’s leadership on this issue. “These guidelines provide a legal roadmap for how all our schools can achieve excellence through diversity,” said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “School districts, colleges and universities must seize this opportunity to improve education in America or fall behind in an increasingly diverse world.” The releases - “Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools” and “Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity in Post-Secondary Education” – changed the prior administration’s guidance, which recommended schools not consider race in student assignment planning.
Multiple studies have shown that educational excellence is achieved through diverse environments, and the business community, military and other institutions have understood and implemented the practice for decades. The Lawyers’ Committee says it agrees with the departments and the majority of the Supreme Court, which stated, our “nation’s future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to the ideas and mores of students as diverse as this nation of many peoples.” “Most major corporations have embraced diversity because they recognize that they can leverage a mosaic of talent and perspective to enhance their entire workforce and become more competitive,” said Public Policy Director Tanya Clay House. “It’s time that our schools do the same, to prepare all children to thrive in our increasingly diverse society and global economy.” Since its founding in 1963, educational equity has been a core priority for the Lawyers’ Committee. Currently, key initiatives include a lawsuit to achieve the full dismantlement of vestiges of the de jure segregated higher education system in Maryland; litigation to force the State of Louisiana to ensure the provision of legally required special education services to children in New Orleans; and advocacy for federal education policy that emphasizes accountability for the success of all students, resource equity and diversity.
In addition, the nonpartisan organization works in partnership with the National Coalition on School Diversity and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
“Today’s guidance makes it clear that controlling Supreme Court law gives school systems powerful means to pursue racial integration and diversity. Doing so benefits all students,” said Brenda Shum, senior counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee’s Educational Opportunities Project. In the most recent Supreme Court opinion on public school student assignment, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose concurring opinion reached conclusions supported by a majority of the court, indicated that school systems could pursue the interests of racial integration and diversity through, among other means, “race conscious” measures such as siting new schools and drawing school attendance zones based on consideration of the demographics of different neighborhoods and recruiting students or faculty with consideration of race. Some school systems are already putting such measures to use.
For example, Jefferson County, Kentucky responded to the PICS decision by creating a new student assignment system that looked at the racial composition, income levels and education levels of different neighborhoods, and drew school attendance zones that integrate students according to these factors. While Jefferson County is still working to improve the plan, it is succeeding in restoring diversity to its schools. “The issuance of ... (the) guidance documents provides a fresh opportunity to examine trends and demographics in public school and university systems, and to help eliminate the racial and economic opportunity gap among schools by improving integration and diversity,” said Arnwine. “We encourage civic leaders and citizens to recommit to the goal of educational integration and diversity, because it’s a goal that serves both justice and the educational needs of our children.” The Lawyers’ Committee was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending, community development, employment discrimination, voting, education and environmental justice. For more information, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.