Confronting a Race-Based School Admissions Policy

摘要

The intensifying national debate on affirmative action manifests itself on numerous fronts, including the controversial use of racial preferences in school admissions. A specific manifestation of this issue arose in the Houston, Texas public school system, where a disputed quota system became the object of a legal challenge. I show how one can evaluate the effects of such quota systems with reference to the salient legal standards-and how the results led to a negotiated resolution and changed school policy.