TALKING POINTS: Diversity in Schools

History of School Desegregation cases up to date from the Los Angeles Times

Background on two Supreme Court voluntary school desegregation cases:

Louisville - Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 05-915)

• 30 years ago a federal judge ordered that Jefferson County impose a desegregation program, dissolving the order in 2000 after a judge ruled that integration had been successful. In 2001, the school district put a program in place to assure that diversity in schools would be maintained

Seattle – Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District, 05-908

• Race is considered as one of two tiebreakers when there are too many applicants to a particularly popular high school

Decision on two Supreme Court voluntary school desegregation cases:

On June 28, 2007, a divided Supreme Court issued decisions in two cases regarding whether public school districts in Seattle and Louisville can voluntarily use race-conscious measures to avoid racial isolation and promote racial diversity in their elementary and secondary schools

The Court struck down the specific policies used by the Louisville and Seattle communities, but ruled that educational diversity and combating segregation are compelling governmental interests that governments may pursue through careful race-conscious efforts.

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

An Endorsement of Diversity and Inclusion:

A majority of the Court—Justices Kennedy, Breyer, Ginsburg, and Souter—agreed that promoting educational diversity and overcoming our history of segregation are “compelling governmental interests” that communities and governments can pursue through careful race-conscious means. Justice Kennedy—who wrote the controlling opinion for the Court—noted, for example:

• “If school authorities are concerned that the student-body compositions of certain schools interfere with the objective of offering an equal educational opportunity to all of their students, they are free to devise race-conscious measures to address the problem in a general way and without treating each student in different fashion solely on the basis of a systematic, individual typing by race.” (p.8).
• “In the administration of public schools by the state and local authorities it is permissible to consider the racial makeup of schools and to adopt general policies to encourage a diverse student body, one aspect of which is its racial composition.” (p.8)
• “[A]s an aspiration, Justice Harlan’s axiom [that our Constitution is “colorblind”] must command our assent. In the real world, it is regrettable to say, it cannot be a universal constitutional principle.” (p.8)
• “The enduring hope is that race should not matter; the reality is that it too often does.” (p.7)

Numerous Alternatives Remain Available:

A majority of the Court made clear that a range of other, affirmative measures remain available to pursue integration and inclusion in our schools. As Justice Kennedy said in his controlling opinion:

• “School boards may pursue the goal of bringing together students of diverse backgrounds and races through other means, including strategic site selection of new schools; drawing attendance zones with general recognition of the demographics of neighborhoods; allocating resources for special programs; recruiting students and faculty in a targeted fashion; and tracking enrollments, performance, and other statistics by race.” (p.8) (emphasis added).

In addition to the options outlined in Justice Kenney’s opinion:

• A number of civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, still require schools to avoid segregation or exclusion of students by race.
  
• And the courts still have the authority, and the responsibility, to require integration efforts when they find—as in too many schools around the country—that there has been a history of discrimination or segregation.
  

The Importance of Diverse and Inclusive Schools:

The Court made clear that diverse and inclusive schools are important to the future of our country, and communities have a clear stake in overcoming the isolation and marginalization of their children.

• A majority of the Court correctly held that it is vital that we teach our kids how to learn together, play together, and solve problems together in an increasingly diverse world.
• A majority of the Court strongly endorsed the importance of local communities building schools that reflect our nation’s highest values; teaching our kids to live together, learn together, and play together in an increasingly diverse world. That’s good for our kids, and it’s good for our country. And it’s fully consistent with our Constitution.
• This decision recognizes that we’re all connected in our country, and that our fates are linked. The better we know and understand each other, the better we can live and work together, and the stronger our country will become.

NEWS COVERAGE AND ANALYSIS:

NEWS:

“Use of Race in School Placement Curbed” (by David Stout, New York Times, 6/28/07)

“Courts Limit Use of Race to Achieve Diversity in Schools” (by Robert Barnes, Washington Post, 6/28/07)

“Divided Court Rejects School Diversity Plans” (by Bill Mears, CNN, 6/28/07)

“Supreme Court Rejects School Race Plans” (by Mark Sherman, The Guardian Unlimited, 6/28/07)

“United Around Racial Diversity” (Christian Science Monitor, 6/29/07)

“Can Schools Still Achieve Diversity?” (by Reynolds Holding, Time Magazine, 6/28/07)

“Brown Fades to Black” (by Ward Harkavy, Village Voice, 6/28/07)

NPR Coverage

ORGANIZATIONS:

“National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights Denounces Supreme Court Rulings: Court Rules Against Efforts to End Racial Isolation in Public Schools” (EarthTimes.Org, 6/28/07 – NCRCR Press Release

“AJC: Supreme Court Ruling on School Integration Troubling” (American Jewish Committee, 6/28/07)

“ADL Encouraged By Supreme Court's Recognizing Racial Diversity As a Compelling Interest in Public Education” (Anti-Defamation League, 6/28/07)

“Statement from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the Supreme Court’s Rulings in Seattle and Louisville Cases” (NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 6/28/07)

“Supreme Court Rules in School Diversity Cases” (by Tyler Lewis, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 6/28/07)

“Supreme Court Decision Recognizes Value of Diversity in Public Education (by Linda Embrey, National School Boards Association, 6/28/07)

BLOGS:

• SCOTUS Blog (SCOTUS is “Supreme Court of the United States”)
• Crooks and Liars Blog
• National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights
• Legal Momentum, Advancing Women’s Rights
• Supreme Court School Integration Blog
• The Spamwise Chronicles SCOTUS watch

Link to Mainstream Media Project’s release last November when the cases were being considered:

http://www.mainstream-media.net/alerts/alert_pitch.cfm?id=227

Mainstream Media Project blog of talking points and media resources from November, 2006:

http://goctalkingpoints.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

http://gocresources.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

TALKING POINTS: "Grand Bargain" or "Bad Deal"?, Immigration Reform

Details of the Senate Immigration Reform Bill, titled “Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007”:

New Worker Provisions:

Title IV of the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639) would create a nonimmigrant Y visa program to allow new workers to enter the U.S. on a temporary basis.

Business Immigration Provisions:

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639) would replace the current employer-sponsored immigration system with a merit-based points system, and would institute reforms to the H-1B, L, and Conrad 30 nonimmigrant visa programs.

Legalization Provisions:

Title VI of the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639) creates a new Z nonimmigrant visa category for individuals currently in undocumented status and provides for earned adjustment to legal permanent residence.

Family Immigration Provisions:

Title V of the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639) would fundamentally restructure the permanent immigration system by largely replacing the current family- and employment-based preference system with a merit-based point system. This title eliminates current family preference categories, severely limits future family immigration, and fails adequately to address the existing backlogs for family-based visas.

Amendments Considered During Senate debate:

This link takes you to a document that contains a list of amendments offered during the Senate Comprehensive Immigration Reform debate.

With Amendments that AILA has taken a position noted accordingly.

Record of roll call votes on amendments to S. 1348 .

American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) top concerns with Senate Immigration Reform Bill:

Decimated the employment-based immigration system through creation of a mis-named "merit-based" point system that disconnects employment-based immigration from employer sponsorship and eliminates existing avenues of migration for aliens of extraordinary ability, multinational executives, and outstanding researchers.

Gutted family-based immigration by eliminating 4 out of 5 long-recognized family relationships that qualify an individual for green card sponsorship in exchange for a partial reduction of the backlogs in those categories.

Lack of meaningful opportunities for new temporary workers to transition to permanent residence.

Lack of sufficient future numbers for employment-based immigrants at all ends of the skill spectrum.

Unwarranted restrictions on the H-1B and L-1 nonimmigrant visa programs.

Lack of sufficient confidentiality protections for Z-visa applicants.

Necessary architecture for meaningful reform must include:

A clear path to lawful residence for those who come forward, pay fines, and demonstrate their commitment to becoming Americans by earning their status through working and learning English.

A new worker program that includes labor protections, job portability, and a realistic path to permanent residence.

Elimination of the existing unconscionable backlogs in family immigration and recalibration of our employment-based immigrant visa quotas to accommodate the needs of our dynamic and growing economy.

Smart border and worksite enforcement mechanisms that protect our national security interests, while respecting civil rights.

Eat at your own risk? TALKING POINTS

Food Safety Concerns

• Unsafe foods cause an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

• In 2006, E-coli from bagged fresh spinach sickened 205 people and killed at least 3 in a national food illness outbreak.

• E-Coli sickened 152 people who ate at chain restaurants Taco Bell and Taco John in 2006.

Center for Science in the Public Interest report on Produce safety

• Only 1.3% of imported fish, vegetables fruit and other foods are inspected by the FDA.

• The U.S. is expected to import around $70 billion in agricultural products in 2007, about double the $36 billion in agricultural imports in 1997.

• About ¼ of fruit (fresh and frozen) is imported. About ½ of our tree nuts are imported. More than 2/3 of fish and shellfish come from overseas.

• As the amount of imported food increased over the last few years, the percentage of inspections of food has declined from 1.8% in 2003 to 1.3% this year and expected 1.1% next year.

• A recent Government Accountability Office report found that most of the $1.7 billion of federal funding for ensuring the nation’s food supply is safe goes to the USDA, which oversees just 20% of the food supply. The FDA gets about 24% of the total amount spent on food safety, but is responsible for 80% of the food supply.

• Imports account for about 13% of the annual American diet.

MSNBC Report

• Imported toothpaste from China was seized in the Dominican Republic because it contained diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent. Toothpaste with the same chemical was found in Panama and Australia.

New York Times Report

• Seafood Imports are inspected by the FDA, however the FDA only inspected less than 2% of the 860,000 imported seafood shipments in 2006, of which only 0.59% were inspected for contaminants in a laboratory.

Food and Water Watch

• Consumer confidence in the FDA plummeted by 25% in the last 6 years, with 20% of that decline occurring between 2004 and 2006.

Center for Science in the Public Interest Report

• Risk assessment by the FDA for melamine contamination in poultry, fish and pet food (link is below). Some critics feel the FDA did not test enough samples before releasing fish and poultry back into the market. Only 2 fish were checked for melamine (both negative), but 7 fish feed samples were tested with 5 positive and 2 negative for melamine contamination. Meat from 6 chickens was tested, with all samples testing the level of detection at 50 parts per billion of melamine. All poultry was released back into the market after these tests.

Melamine Risk Assessment by FDA

Resources for buying local and changing the Food System

Find Farmer’s Markets, Community Supported Agriculture and family farms in your neck of the woods:

Local Harvest

Find out the value of buying locally grown food and look into where your food comes from:

Food Routes

Policy proposals for changes in the Farm Bill to support more sustainable, organic, locally grown foods:

Community Food Security Coalition

OldWays Food Issues Think Tank focuses on the traditional aspects of food and health.

OldWays Preservation Trust