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Show AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: PATH TO EQUALITY OR REVERSE DISCRIMINATION? Natalie A. Noel In addition to the Talented 20 Program, the One Florida Initiative calls for an increase in funding for need-based scholarships, funding for free Preliminary SAT (PSAT) testing for all Florida tenth graders, increased minority outreach and recruitment, and forms "opportunity alliances" between Florida universities and low-performing schools (Hirst 2000). The Florida plan is similar to the Texas "10% Plan" which was implemented in 1997, and California's 4 percent plan which was adopted soon after Proposition 209 as an alternative to race-based preferential treatment. However, unlike the Florida and Texas plan, California's percentage plan retains existing eligibility requirements.2 Proponents of the percentage plans contend that they are a more progressive way to achieve diversity than preferential treatment. Instead of focusing solely on race they account for relative disadvantage. This focus on disadvantage, as Clint Bolick of the Institute of Justice puts it, "begins to address the roots of the problem, which are more economic and educational than racial, even though they disproportionately afflict minority individuals" (Bolick 2000). Florida Governor Jeb Bush attributed a twelve percent increase in the number of minority freshmen enrolled at the state's ten universities to the first year success of his "Talented 20" plan. David Colburn, Provost at the University of Florida publicly questioned Bush's plan at its initial release, but now praises Bush for his efforts toward challenging the university. Colburn said that the university increased minority recruitment by giving out an extra $200,000 in grants to minority students in Jacksonville area high schools (Selingo 2000a). However, while Bush and Colburn hailed such programs as a means to expand opportunity to a greater number of minority students, other critique percentage plans as more problematic than beneficial. For example, the academic quality and rigor of high schools varies widely. Thus, as a result some students are more qualified than others to attend college. Critics contend that the plan lowers academic standards and requires remedial courses (Selingo 2000b, A34). In addition, academic disparities among high schools will in turn adversely affect student class ranking, such that one student may not make the top twenty percent in a highly competitive, high-achievement high school, while another student with a lower GPA may be eligible for the "Talented 20" plan in their less rigorous high school. As one author puts it "at bad high schools, some top seniors aren't ready for college. Do they deserve guaranteed seats? And at the best schools, students cram in honors courses yet can't beat out the academic superstars at the top of their class. Is it fair to have their destinies ride on class rank?" (Selingo 2000c, A31). More specifically, one student who attends one of Florida's more competitive high schools, Though it is not in the scope of this paper to discuss this, it is important to note Richard C. Atkinson's, President of the University of California system, recent proposal to eliminate the requirement that applicants take the SAT. There is widespread opinion both favorable and unfavorable concerning the proposal. Palmetto Senior High, and ranks 213th out of her class of 634, has a 3.9 GPA, high SAT score, and several advanced placement courses will not make the top twenty. She says she feels cheated and is frustrated that "Here you are at a different school working harder, while the people at other schools are doing easier work and getting further ahead" (Selingo 2000c, A31). However, Florida Education Chancellor, Adam Herbert contends that students from top schools should not have a problem getting in. Rather, he asserts that, "What we are really talking about is an additional group of students that come from our low-performing schools that previously did not apply" (Diamond 2000). Despite immediate minority enrollment increases, many affirmative action proponents still advocate a return to preferences. Palmetto's principal, Janet Hupp asserts that minority students at her school may have lower GPA's and class ranks as a result of a competitive, integrated high school, such as Palmetto. She contends that they score higher than the national average on the SAT and are better helped by affirmative action programs than class rank based percentage plans. In addition, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission deems California, Texas, and Florida's percentage plans an inadequate replacement for racial preferences. The Commission contends that the class rank systems further discourages the integration of high schools and argue that in the long term percentage plans will not increase minority enrollment at public institutions (Selingo 2000c, A31). Thus, not only does the disparity among high school achievement raise concerns about equity, but percentage plans also raise constitutional questions similar to those that arise with dual admissions systems. Could the academic disparities among students who are eligible for Florida's "Talented 20" be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause? Proposition 209 backer and race-based preferential policy foe, Ward Connerly calls Florida's "Talented 20" plan a "lawsuit waiting to happen." Connerly contends, "If you're picking a number because you know that number is going to favor one group or another based on race, that's no different than a system of explicit preferences" (Selingo 2000c, A31). Connerly supported California's 4 percent plan only after assurances that it would not result in lower academic standards. The primary benefit of percentage plans is that they have the potential of drawing in economically disadvantaged students of all races. Percentage plans aim to increase the opportunities of underprivileged students, by admitting students who perform at the top of their class in a disadvantaged school. However, in so doing, students who may be unprepared for college are guaranteed admission alongside higher achieving students. Percentage plans may increase opportunity, but they must also prevent declining standards, and be "narrowly tailored" in order to pass constitutional muster. Clearly, the "percentage plan" concept is too recent to receive close scrutiny from policy makers or the courts. Perhaps 16 |