Recent litigation attacking affirmative action illustrates the need for competitive college admissions programs that avoid quota systems. The "Hopwood" decision overstepped its authority by rejecting Justice Powell's opinion in "Bakke." College admission programs must defend the use of racial consciousness by separating…

In a test of affirmative-action policies, a white teacher, Sharon Taxman, filed reverse discrimination charges when her downsizing district terminated her and kept a black teacher of nearly identical qualifications. The case was settled out of court. If the U.S. Supreme Court had heard the case under either the Equal Protection or Title VII…

Reviews an unresolved case involving the termination of Sharon Taxman, a white business education teacher at Piscatawny (New Jersey) High School, as a reduction-in-force measure. An African American teacher with equal seniority was retained, based on the board's commitment to affirmative action. Taxman's 1993 suit was upheld, but a circuit court…

Reviews legal theory and major affirmative-action court litigation in two areas involving public education: employment and student placement. Four U.S. Supreme Court justices solidly oppose affirmative-action plans not directly linked to governmental discrimination. Schools should consult attorneys, not advocates, as…

Recent court decisions have rejected fostering of diversity as a compelling state interest. In a 1999 case (Brewer v West Irondequoit School District), Federal District Judge David Larimer ordered the West Irondequoit Central School District to admit a previously rejected (white) transfer student. Using class, not race, as an admission criterion…

When a qualified white student was denied admission to an elite public school, her father sued the Boston Public School Committee, claiming the new, racially based admissions policy violated the Equal Protection Clause. The First Circuit Court reversed a lower court decision for the school committee, because the admission policy served no…