About six months ago I wrote (here) that the Ninth Circuit was considering a long-running case involving the Seattle school board’s use of a “racial tiebreak” in assigning high school students to over- and under-subscribed schools. I wrote then that the city’s interest appeared to be nothing more, or less, than “straightforward racial balancing,” and now a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, in a masterful opinion written by Judge Diarmuid F. O
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One little secret is that the under-subscribed schools in minority-rich south Seattle spend more money per student than the over-subscribed schools in the paler neighborhoods to the north. Sad to say, spending more does not always result in a better education.
Another is that, unlike the general population of Seattle, the kids in the public schools are over 40% ‘minority.’ If I remember correctly, the School Board gave school-preference choices to kids who lived near a school that was over 60% minority (a 60% minority? Shades of Al Gore. . .). This resulted in minority parents who wanted their kids to go to the academically better (cheaper) schools to the north, and forced some kids out of their neighborhood school and into one 30-45 minutes or longer away.
I live in Seattle. It’s not a big city; only about 15 by 6 miles. Years ago, I had a 4 mile commute: 70 minutes walking, 55 by bus. Recently I had a 2 mile commute: 30 minutes walking, 20 minutes driving. Academics aside, it’s wrong to force a kid to go to a school 10 miles away because they have the wrong skin tone.
It’s one thing to send a 15 year old kid on a commute like that to get a better education; it’s something else to be forced to send your 15 year old kid on a commute like that to get a worse education.
The whole concept is silly. Stupid. The only ‘Race’ involved is the human race. The only thing that you can tell by the shade of someones skin is the shade of their skin. Culture is important; culture matters; culture makes a difference – just ask any woman who has lived in Saudi Arabia. Using skin tone as a proxy for culture is dumb, and having the Government allocate benefits based on appearance is illegal.
I’m actually kind of surprised the 9th Circuit got this one right.