Affirmative Action Returns to the Supreme Court

One of the most hotly contested issues in education during the past-half century is affirmative action, also known as race-based admissions policies. Supporters defend the practice as one designed to take “affirmative” steps to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Critics respond that these policies do not address how granting preferences today remedies past harms, especially because individuals who are passed over when affirmative action is applied played no role in creating past inequities. Insofar as debate over affirmative action has heated up yet again, this column briefly examines the history of Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016) wherein the Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas’s reliance on race in admissions. Then, the column focuses on the impact affirmative action can have on K–12 schools, reflecting on the meaning of Fisher II for school business officials, their boards, and other educational leaders