Schools and the Court: Creating Inclusive Communities

Yesterday the Supreme Court  announced that it will consider a number of cases this term questioning the efforts schools in Seattle and Louisville to promote diverse student populations. 

The cases will be heard in December, and are likely to garner quite a bit of attention, so it's important to take a minute to remember why the efforts of these communities are consistent with the Constitution and our values as Americans, and deserving of the public's support.

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court recognized that the purpose of the Equal Protection Clause is to bring us together as a nation of diverse peoples, and that promoting diverse education is a compelling government interest.  That is what these teachers, parents, and education leaders are doing - providing a vision of unity and cooperation for their children that we can all be proud of.

Opponents will argue for the narrow interests of a few students and parents over the common good.  They'll invoke inflammatory terms like quotas and racial preferences, and so many other straw men meant to distract attention and draw down support from the real issue: that we are all in this together, and these programs, which bring our children together, ultimatley make us stronger as a nation.

Years of experience show that many communities can't achieve inclusive, diverse schools without making that an explicit goal and working towards it intentionally.  And research shows that public schools in America are rapidly resegregating.  By choosing inclusion instead of separation, these schools are working to buck that trend and build the kind of community that we all want to live in: a community of cohesive, well-educated and prosperous young people prepared for the future.  That's a goal that every American should support.