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38 Hum. Rts. 2 (2011)
Voluntary Desegregation, Resegregation, and the Hope for Equal Educational Opportunity

handle is hein.journals/huri38 and id is 88 raw text is: n 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle SchoolDistrict No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), decided its first school desegregation case in over a decade. The case was distinct from all previous desegregation cases to reach the Court because it involved voluntary rather than mandatory desegregation. The issue before the Court was the extent to which school districts that are not under a legal obligation to remedy past discrimination can still use race classifications to achieve desegregation or diversity. In a convoluted opinion, the Court held that districts are free to use race to integrate and diversify their schools under some circumstances. They must have a compelling interest for doing so-eliminating the negative effects of racial isolation or achieving the educational benefits of diversity- and adopt plans that are narrowly tai- lored to that end. The Court, however, applied a stringent narrow tailoring analysis, which left many to wonder whether any voluntary desegregation plan might realistically meet the standard. In the immediate aftermath of the Court's opinion, advocates scrambled to devise and identify plans they believed would pass constitutional muster, knowing that the failure to do so would effec- tively concede the end of desegregation im our nation's schools. At the time of the Court's opinion, only a small num- ber of school districts were still under mandatory court order to desegregate, and their numbers steadily drop with each ensuing year. Soon, voluntary desegregation will be the only means to maintain whatever integration cur- rently exists and potentially reverse an overall trend of rapid resegregation. 0. (U U) Students practice in band class at Southwind High School in Shelby County, Tenn, near Memphis, where effort is underway to mere the city d suburban school districts. Reversing the trend of resegrega- tion is important, not just for the sake of racial balance, but because segre- gated schools-de jure or de facto- exact a number of harmful impacts on the students who attend them. While various policies currently compete for attention at the federal and state levels with the promise of reducing the achievement gap, desegregation is the only policy with a long and consistent track record of improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged students. For decades, social science has con- firmed that the level of racial isolation and poverty in schools directly corre- lates with the academic achievement of the students in those schools. In short, nothing less than the chance to receive a basic and quality education is at risk in voluntary desegregation. Fortunately, the steadfast com- mitment of advocates to defend voluntary desegregation and diver- sity goals has recently begun to pay dividends. In the winter of 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights jointly issued policy guidance that supports the goals of voluntary desegregation and diversity plans and offers sug- gestions as to how to achieve them. In addition, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals settled a key question re- garding race-conscious redistricting of schools that makes the task easier for school districts attempting to diversify or desegregate. With a con- sensus forming around the appropri- ate goals and methods of voluntary desegregation and diversity plans, the most important step is to take to well-intentioned districts the mes- sage that they are free to act. Understa.,ondling the Co Urt's pnonAnd Itos fc The Court's decision in Parents In- volved was confusing to almost all but the closest followers of the Court because its decision was a 4-1-4 split, with Justice Anthony Kennedy's opin- ion at the center. He concurred with Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion that the desegregation plans in ques- tion were subject to strict scrutiny and not narrowly tailored, making Justice Kennedy the fifth vote to strike down Fall 2011 2 is AV In Vol t ry s gr g tio Res re ion, n:d the Ho e for E ual Ed cational 0 orimIm nity

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