Posted on: Wednesday, July 2, 2003

EDITORIAL
Fix our schools, and affirmative action falls

The recent Supreme Court decision affirming the limited use of race in college admissions has done little to quiet foes of affirmative action.

Opponents say they will continue to file lawsuits seeking to force institutions to find "race-neutral alternatives."

And they will continue to fight for court appointments, particularly if there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, of jurists with anti-affirmative action policies.

They have a right to continue to fight their fight, of course. But their energy may be misdirected.

In an intriguing article written for Knight-Ridder, George Washington University law professor Spencer Overton offers a much more constructive idea. It is drawn directly from language in the Supreme Court decision:

"We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today," the justices wrote.

So, Overton asked, why not put the energy, money and legal skills now being devoted to fighting affirmative action into improving our schools, particularly schools with high numbers of minority students?

That makes perfect sense. The high court perceived a gap in educational achievement between the races in reaching its decision. Eliminate, or at least substantially narrow, that gap by helping our neediest students and schools now, and there will be no need for affirmative action in a decade or two.

And if the opponents of affirmative action switch gears in this way, supporters of the technique can devote some of their resources to educational improvement as well.

Affirmative action is a means to an end. The sooner we get to that end, with the help of everyone, the sooner we can stop worrying about this technique.