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ACE and Higher Education Community File Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court in Support of School Diversity

Oct. 11, 2006

The American Council on Education (ACE) and 20 other higher education associations filed an amicus brief Oct. 10 in two related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that ask whether public school districts may voluntarily take race and ethnicity into consideration in efforts to promote diversity.

In the two cases—Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education—local officials had designed student enrollment plans that attempted to provide for both school choice and racial diversity. Local parent groups filed suit in federal court, claiming that using race as a factor to assure diversity violated the equal protection clause under the 14th amendment of the Constitution.

However, the federal district and appellate courts ruled in favor of the Seattle and Louisville (KY) school districts, and the Supreme Court agreed to review the cases in the current legislative session. Arguments are scheduled for Dec. 4.

The associations’ amicus brief draws on the Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in the University of Michigan admissions case Grutter v. Bollinger, which maintained that race-conscious colllege admissions policies are permissible if they advance "a compelling state interest." ACE also submitted an amicus brief in that case.

The groups assert that "similar educational benefits result from the promotion of student diversity in primary and secondary schools." Furthermore, they argue, diversity in K-12 education also promotes excellence in higher education, by increasing the pool of applicants for colleges and universities and better preparing these students for success in college.

"While there are important differences between higher education and the elementary and secondary school settings at issue in these cases," the associations write, "a broad consensus exists among educators at all levels that diversity is essential to their mission and that government should defer to good-faith efforts to attain its educational benefits."

The brief also discusses the link between educational diversity and global competitiveness, maintaining that the global economy requires workers who can function effectively in highly diverse settings.

Copies of the amicus brief may be downloaded from the ACE web site.