Introduction

The diversity rationale for affirmative action in public education has long been a topic of political and legal controversy. Many colleges and universities have established affirmative action policies not only to remedy past discrimination, but also to achieve a racially and ethnically diverse student body or faculty. Although the Supreme Court has recognized that the use of race-based policies to promote diversity in higher education may be constitutional in two cases involving the University of Michigan's admissions policies—namely Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger —the Court had never, until recently, considered whether diversity is a constitutionally permissible goal in the elementary and secondary education setting. To resolve this question, the Supreme Court agreed to review two cases that involved the use of race to maintain racially diverse public schools. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 , a consolidated ruling that resolved both cases, the Court ultimately struck down the school plans at issue, holding that they violated the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. This report provides an overview of the Court's decision, as well as a discussion of its implications for future educational efforts to promote racial diversity.
The diversity rationale for affirmative action in public education has long been a topic of political and legal controversy. Many colleges and universities have established affirmative action policies not only to remedy past discrimination, but also to achieve a racially and ethnically diverse student body or faculty. Although the Supreme Court has recognized that the use of race-based policies to promote diversity in higher education may be constitutional, the Court had never, until recently, considered whether diversity is a constitutionally permissible goal in the elementary and secondary education setting. To resolve this question, the Supreme Court recently agreed to review two cases that involved the use of race to maintain racially diverse public schools and to avoid racial segregation. In a consolidated ruling in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, the Court held that the Seattle and Louisville school plans at issue violated the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. This report provides an overview of the Court's decision, as well as a discussion of its implications for future educational efforts to promote racial diversity.