The Supreme Court's decision to strike down the use of affirmative action to admit students generated a plethora of pro-con commentary. Even under the restriction handed down, colleges and universities should still be able to achieve their moral and noble goal of providing an on-ramp for all students from different backgrounds, ensuring that their campus populations reflect the nation's population without restricting access to a particular group of students. It is not acceptable for any student to be denied enrollment to a college to achieve a particular standard of racial composition. This practice constitutes discrimination, as well. If a student is prepared academically, consideration should be given.
It is well-documented that enrollment consideration practices at America's colleges and universities for years have not been fair and proper to students of particular racial and economic backgrounds. As an old saying goes: Two wrongs do not make one wrong right; however, it is hopeful that today's educational leaders would not employ admission practices that would purposefully reduce access and opportunity to any student regardless of ethnicity, economic status or any other distinguishing characteristic.
Every academically prepared student, regardless of certain characteristics should be meritoriously considered, eliminating the need for Affirmative Action measures. Coupled with this proposition would be for precollege institutions (elementary, middle, and high schools) to effectively prepare their students academically to be competitive from pre-school through pre-college, and beyond.
The best remedy for correcting unfair historical practices is to put into place effective strategies to educate every student. Efforts to install fairness practices to all should be implemented by education officials. The strategic involvement of the home during the pre-school through pre-college years must occur. Education officials must find ways to engage parents.
This decision from the Supreme Court should serve as a clarion call to educators. Academically, preschool through precollege systems should specifically prepare their students to be competitive. Schools must ensure that students have mastered the prerequisite academic skills before they are advanced to the next grade level. This assurance will guarantee that students have the cognitive prowess to be considered, without the use of affirmative action for the college of their choice, and college officials will have no need to employ affirmative action.
Several measures are required to equip students with the necessary academic skills:
1. Committed and talented educational leaders.
2. Appropriate leadership training programs offered at colleges and universities to train educators.
3. Well-trained teachers in a variety of effective results-oriented pedagogy.
4. Student assessment programs to monitor the academic improvement of students.
5. Community-based education partners should be part of an educational program.
The original purpose of affirmative action was to establish equity in opportunity for a segment of the American population that was denied access to educational opportunity because of economic status or race. America is a new place today. Its new mission is to ensure opportunity and provide an onramp to college for all students.
A present and future America is and will be an all-inclusive America. Opportunity will be given to everyone deserving an opportunity, based on objective bias-free measures.
Frank Roberson
Aiken
