Roundup: Week of June 25 - June 29
Blog Post
June 28, 2007
Supreme Court Rules against Voluntary Desegregation Programs; Leaves Affirmative Action Intact
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that school districts can no longer use race as a factor in assigning students to K-12 public schools. However, the court let stand previous decisions on the use of affirmative action in college admissions. In a highly-anticipated and extremely controversial decision, the court split 5-4 and overturned two voluntary desegregation plans in Seattle, Wa. and Louisville, Ky. The justices, however, noted that the ruling does not overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision that allowed the University of Michigan Law School to continue using its holistic affirmative action policy for admissions. In the majority decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the difference between the two cases was that in Grutter the admissions program at issue there focused on each applicant as an individual, with a goal of exposing students to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints. By contrast, Roberts said the school desegregation plans were unconstitutional because they categorized students based solely on their race and were not part of a broader diversity effort.
Public Colleges Start Planning Voluntary Accountability Systems
Two associations representing public colleges the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges unveiled proposals last week for the creation of a voluntary accountability system that students and their parents could use to compare similar institutions. Colleges that chose to participate would be required to use one of three standardized tests to measure student learning on their campuses, and to report their scores on those tests. In addition, colleges that took part in the system would provide detailed data about their institutions and students, and would post students' opinions on various aspects of campus life. The leaders of the two groups are hoping that by setting up a voluntary system, they will dissuade federal policy makers from imposing accountability measures on colleges, such as those proposed last year by the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The national association that represents private colleges also released a template its own accountability model last week that would contain similar information as the public colleges site but would not have any testing data.
Blacks Better Represented at Southern Colleges
The South has become the only region in the country in which the proportion of black students in college exceeds that group's representation in the region's overall population, according to a study that was released on Monday. The report by the Southern Regional Education Board found that the number of blacks enrolled at colleges in the 16 southern states has risen by 52 percent over the past 10 years. Blacks now make up 21 percent of students at Southern colleges, compared with 19 percent of the population in that region. Most of the gains were at public universities and community colleges. Meanwhile, the share of black students from that region who attend historically black colleges has dropped to 19 percent from 26 percent a decade ago.
Kennedy Twice Used Sallie Mae Jet
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported this week that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and family members twice used student-loan giant Sallie Maes corporate jet to travel between Washington D.C. and Hyannis, Mass. in 2001 and 2002. The senators political-action committee, the Committee for a Democratic Majority, reimbursed the corporation $1,965 for the first flight and $1,144 for the second amounts equal to commercial first class tickets but less than it would have cost to charter a private jet. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was criticized last year for using Sallie Maes jet for golf outings in Florida. [Disclosure: The editor of Higher Ed Watch used to work for Senator Kennedy.]