It is important to reshape the structure for opportunities in the country in order to level the educational playing field for all minorities, and the work for equality wasn’t nearly enough done, said Katy Haycock, the director of The Education Trust.
Haycock, the recipient of the 2007 Fordham Prize for Valor, was responding to the question posed by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation: “Chief Justice [John] Roberts recently wrote, ‘It’s a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.’ Is he right? If no, what does this sentiment imply for the No Child Left Behind and other initiatives to close the achievement gap?”
“We’ve done the easy parts – appointed committees, talked about closing the [achievement] gaps, things that don’t threaten the privileges,” said Haycock. “But work isn’t really done.”
Also participating in the discussion Monday afternoon was Dr. Abigail Thernstrom, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Dr. Stephan Thernstrom, Winthrop Professor of History at Harvard University. They shared a joint 2007 Fordham Prize for Scholarship with Dr. Paul T. Hill, professor of public affairs at University of Washington.
“The Roberts quote came from a civil rights case,” says Abigail Thernstrom. “The courts are trying for a perfect formula in every setting, including education. I don’t like divvying up. Period. It sends a patronizing, demeaning message. Try teaching the kids instead [that] it doesn’t matter who is sitting next to whom.”
According to Stephan Thernstrom, there is strong evidence that minorities now have a higher graduation rate in the University of California system than when they had preferences in place. “It worked to the benefit of African Americans and Latinos,” he said. “Why should No Child Left Behind offer racial breakups?”
