Now let us see who is likely to be student Y and student X, in terms of SAT profiles. It is racial engineering that appears to be at the bottom of the maneuver, for Caucasian profiles are similar to that of student Y, and minority student profiles are more similar to student X. Contemporary admission procedures, for expensive elite colleges in particular, are putting a certain group of students into a vise. The groups being squeezed out are the minorities who are not targeted for special standing, especially Asian students who excel not by claiming victim status but by straightforward achievement, and the white lower middle-class, those without the social clout on the one side and without the political muscle on the other. Instead, they relied upon a great democratizing instrument, one that gave the smartest amongst them a level playing field to show their stuff. That instrument of fairness and mobility, not perfect but the best chance they were going to get, has been the Scholastic Aptitude Test, their shot at knocking politely at the door of America's best schools.
Colleges already validate the adage that the chief cause of problems is solutions.
Watching the education professionals at work on America's schools is like watching Bart Simpson sewing someone up after heart surgery. David Murray is a Bradley Scholar in Residence with the Heritage Foundation. He wrote this essay for the Independence Institute, a think-tank in Golden, Colorado. This article, from the Independence Institute staff, fellows and research network, is offered for your use at no charge. Independence Feature Syndicate articles are published for educational purposes only, and the authors speak for themselves.