Legislation Seeks to Broaden Access to HOPE Scholarship
By Charles Dervarics

A congressional coalition is seeking to link two of the most contentious issues in education today — unequal K-12 funding and affirmative action in higher education.

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., who is leading the coalition, says unequal funding and affirmative action are directly related. Unequal school funding — particularly for low-income students of color — justifies the use of affirmative action in college admissions to promote diversity, Fattah says.

Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus and progressives in Congress support the new effort, which is being waged on two fronts — through a legal brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court and legislation to promote more equitable school financing. Fattah is rolling out a campaign seeking action on the legislation by the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 2004.

"We think there is a very clear nexus between what takes place in K-12 and what takes place in higher education," Fattah told Black Issues recently. Yet even as the nation prepares for a possible rollback of affirmative action, "No one has raised the connection," he says.

The centerpiece of the argument is that too many low-income, minority children attend inferior local schools with few resources and an insufficient tax base. If policy-makers are truly interested in color-blind college admissions, states must take steps to equalize funding between rich and poor districts.

Black Caucus members and other lawmakers outlined this view in a friend-of-the-court brief they filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is reviewing the University of Michigan policy on affirmative action in college admissions. "States have consistently failed to provide to poor children the education they provide for other children," Fattah says.

Given the pervasive inequality in funding for local schools, a youngster of color educated in a low-income neighborhood "stands little chance of competing for a space in an academic institution such as the University of Michigan," the brief states. Minority children also face "persistent, pernicious inequities" in K-12 education, something the federal government already recognizes by funding the multi-billion-dollar Title I program.