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Letter to the editor

Reaction to the Supreme Court's decision on school integration

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 29, 2007

"I believed so much in what we are doing, I just felt we had to win. The goal here is to make sure all kids have access to great schools." - Kathleen Brose, president of Parents Involved in Community Schools, who sued the Seattle school district after her daughter failed to get into a highly regarded high school.

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"This is a very lame excuse to tell a school system that they don't have to use race as an arbiter to help kids achieve and get a fair deal. In a world that still has the vestiges of racism, that's a ridiculous rationale." - Warlene Gary, CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association

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"These decisions take away the right of local communities to ensure that all students benefit from racially diverse classrooms. Recent evidence shows that integrated schools promote minority academic achievement and can help close the achievement gap." - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

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"Today's decision turns back the clock on equality in our schools." - Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

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"The premise is laid for the resegregation of America and the denial of opportunity. ... Inheritance and access will not be counterbalanced by equal protection." - The Rev. Jesse Jackson

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"A majority of the court still agrees that racial diversity is a boon to education, yet every time schools reach for that goal, the Supreme Court moves the goal posts." - Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

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"Today's Supreme Court ruling has placed a serious obstacle in the way of achieving the vision of America ... where we see racially integrated education as the best way to reflect our great diversity, unite our nation, and make real our promise of equal opportunity for all." - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

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"There can't be a dual system of school assignments based on race or ethnicity. Racial quotas and preferences never produce diversity - they produce animosity, bitterness and perpetuate the belief that minority students just can't hack it." - Edward Blum, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington

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"Clearly, we need better race-neutral alternatives. Instead of spending zillions of dollars around the country to place a black child next to a white child, let's reduce class size. All the schools are equal." - Teddy Gordon, a Louisville lawyer who represented the plaintiffs.

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"The Supreme Court decision in the school desegregation cases is appalling. Ever since Brown vs. Board of Education, it has been settled law that the Constitution requires racially mixed schools. Today's decision turns Brown upside down and ignores decades of constitutional history. If this isn't judicial activism, I don't know what is." - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

[Last modified June 29, 2007, 00:46:01]