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I have a dream, that one day all students may be judged on their merits, not their skin colors.
I fully expects some people who claims they're against racial discrimination will find a way to be outraged about this much-welcomed development against institutionalized racism, though.
WASHINGTON --The Trump administration is moving to rescind Obama-era guidance that encouraged schools to take a person's race into account to encourage diversity in admissions, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
The shift would give schools and universities the federal government's blessing to take a race-neutral approach to the students they consider for admission.
The action comes amid a high-profile court fight over admission at Harvard University as well as Supreme Court turnover expected to produce a more critical eye toward schools' affirmative action policies.
The new policy would depart from the stance taken by the Obama administration, which in a 2011 policy document, the administration said schools have a "compelling interest" in ensuring a diverse student body, and that while race should not be the primary factor in an admission decision, schools could lawfully consider it in the interest of achieving diversity.
"Institutions are not required to implement race-neutral approaches if, in their judgment, the approaches would be unworkable," the guidance said. "In some cases, race-neutral approaches will be unworkable because they will be ineffective to achieve the diversity the institution seeks."
The administration issued a similar guidance document in 2016 aimed at giving schools a framework for "considering race to further the compelling interests in achieving diversity and avoiding racial isolation."
The Obama approach replaced Bush-era policy from a decade earlier that discouraged affirmative action programs and instead encouraged the use of race-neutral alternatives, like percentage plans and economic diversity programs.
The Trump administration signaled it planned to reinstate the Bush administration's philosophy. Such guidance does not have the force of law, but schools could use it to help defend themselves against lawsuits over their admission policies.
The Justice Department in the Trump administration has sided with Asian-American plaintiffs suing Harvard University who argue that the school unlawfully limits how many of Asian students are admitted.
Civil liberties groups immediately decried the move, saying it went against decades of court rulings that permit colleges and universities to take race into account.
"We condemn the Department of Education's politically motivated attack on affirmative action and deliberate attempt to discourage colleges and universities from pursuing racial diversity at our nation's colleges and universities," Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement.
Eight states already prohibit the use of race in public college admissions: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.
http://abc7.com/education/president...a-era-guidance-on-affirmative-action/3697972/
I fully expects some people who claims they're against racial discrimination will find a way to be outraged about this much-welcomed development against institutionalized racism, though.
President Trump to rescind Obama-era guidance on affirmative action
WASHINGTON --The Trump administration is moving to rescind Obama-era guidance that encouraged schools to take a person's race into account to encourage diversity in admissions, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
The shift would give schools and universities the federal government's blessing to take a race-neutral approach to the students they consider for admission.
The action comes amid a high-profile court fight over admission at Harvard University as well as Supreme Court turnover expected to produce a more critical eye toward schools' affirmative action policies.
The new policy would depart from the stance taken by the Obama administration, which in a 2011 policy document, the administration said schools have a "compelling interest" in ensuring a diverse student body, and that while race should not be the primary factor in an admission decision, schools could lawfully consider it in the interest of achieving diversity.
"Institutions are not required to implement race-neutral approaches if, in their judgment, the approaches would be unworkable," the guidance said. "In some cases, race-neutral approaches will be unworkable because they will be ineffective to achieve the diversity the institution seeks."
The administration issued a similar guidance document in 2016 aimed at giving schools a framework for "considering race to further the compelling interests in achieving diversity and avoiding racial isolation."
The Obama approach replaced Bush-era policy from a decade earlier that discouraged affirmative action programs and instead encouraged the use of race-neutral alternatives, like percentage plans and economic diversity programs.
The Trump administration signaled it planned to reinstate the Bush administration's philosophy. Such guidance does not have the force of law, but schools could use it to help defend themselves against lawsuits over their admission policies.
The Justice Department in the Trump administration has sided with Asian-American plaintiffs suing Harvard University who argue that the school unlawfully limits how many of Asian students are admitted.
Civil liberties groups immediately decried the move, saying it went against decades of court rulings that permit colleges and universities to take race into account.
"We condemn the Department of Education's politically motivated attack on affirmative action and deliberate attempt to discourage colleges and universities from pursuing racial diversity at our nation's colleges and universities," Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement.
Eight states already prohibit the use of race in public college admissions: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.
http://abc7.com/education/president...a-era-guidance-on-affirmative-action/3697972/
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