New diversity guidelines can break college barriers

Sacramento Bee ^ | 1/15/12 | Linda J. Wong, Estela Mara Bensimon and Alicia Dowd

[SmithL]

The Obama administration's decision to make it easier to consider race in promoting diversity in our schools comes at a propitious time for California.

Race and ethnicity are front and center in the state's education system with minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students and more than half of those attending community colleges. The billions of dollars in education budget cuts have and will continue to hit these students the hardest. But new federal diversity guidelines, if followed, hold out new hope for these students' college-going prospects.

Under the Bush administration, colleges and universities were advised to avoid race in their decision-making. Fearful of lawsuits, California's education leaders stayed clear of anything smacking of affirmative action or in violation of Proposition 209's ban on preferential treatment.

The new diversity guidelines, issued in December by the Justice and Education departments, offer a road map around this hands-off advice. They would permit colleges and universities to consider race or ethnicity if race-neutral measures like standardized tests, household income or geography aren't sufficient to achieve their diversity goals.

The state's education leaders should take advantage of this important change and move aggressively to expand college opportunities for Latino and black students.

[SmithL]

The Constitution be damned! The Obama Administration has an agenda and is forcing Affirmative Action back into California schools.

[ClearCase_guy]

If we want society to only care about the content of your character, then we need to make it easier for society to make decisions based on the color of your skin. [/Libspeak]

[Cringing Negativism Network]

“global warming” ping.

/s

[blam]

Why pretend anymore....

Just issue every Black person a college degree and save them the hardship of even having to get out of bed.
Begin taxpayer subsidized bedside food service.

That way, Asians and others who really want and education won't be shut out due to QUOTAS!

[Regulator]

with minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students

So how can they be "minorities" if they are the overwhelming majority?

[traditional1]

"minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students"

So; now a "Minority" is when 70% of something is somehow LESS than 30% of something?

Only in Marxist/Alinsky America can "Minority" mean more than 50% of ANYTHING.

Why not just come right out and say it, "Illegals and Blacks will be favored EVERYWHERE, so they will vote Democrat". Likewise, we can redistribute the wealth of Whitey.

[Regulator]

aren't sufficient to achieve their diversity goals

And aren't diversity goals themselves a violation of Prop 209?

[RobbyS]

Bad news for one minority, the Asians and the supposed majority, the whites. Bad news for the collages and universities: the quality of student is going to go down.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Yes, diversity, we need more like her.

[Bernard Marx]

Does anyone but me think remedial education may be needed when the authors of this piece can pen a sentence like this:

"with minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students and more than half of those attending community colleges

Minorities?

[Carry_Okie]

Race and ethnicity are front and center in the state's education system with minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students and more than half of those attending community colleges. The billions of dollars in education budget cuts have and will continue to hit these students the hardest. But new federal diversity guidelines, if followed, hold out new hope (= MORE MONEY) for these students' college-going prospects.

As if the colleges are short of cash. If they weren't spending money on projects like covering parking lots in solar panels they'd have plenty of cash.

[norton]

It's the Obama way; if the law or constitution are in your way, issue "goals" and "guidelinres" that go around them.

[Travis McGee]

We need to saw off Mexicalfornistan, and shove it into the ocean.

[Carry_Okie]

And aren't diversity goals themselves a violation of Prop 209?

The State is more than willing to ignore its own "racist" laws in order to qualify for more Federal cash.

[Travis McGee]

"with minorities now representing 70 percent of public school students"

Alice, we are through the looking glass.

[cpdiii]

The Obama administration's decision to make it easier to consider race in promoting diversity in our schools This is simply institutionalized racism against Asians and Whites. A racism that is illegal under the civil rights act of 1969. The courts will probably ignore the fact that it is illegal.

"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others" From George Orwell's "Animal Farm"

[Mr. Jeeves]

New diversity guidelines can break college barriers

Remove those "barriers" and there is no need to even go to college.

[dennisw]

If you are white and pay the taxes the freeloading, tax-dodging minorities do not....Well you can go f yourself and so can your children who want to get into a certain state university.

So here you have the children of non-taxpayers (generalizing here) getting racial preferences over the children of taxpayers

[Clock King]

Here is how conservatives need to frame this issue:

Black people are full human beings. There is NO excuse for them not being able to pass exams and tests and interviews like any other person from any other group. What you don’t know, you learn or ask or figure out. Demand to know what is really holding black people back, and demand that “racism” not be a blanket excuse. If it is issues in the family structure, then deal with that. If it is issues with poor teachers being shuffled to “minority” schools, then deal with that, etc. Accept no excuses.

[Lancey Howard]

Martin Luther King must be smiling down from heaven with pride.