The latest ruling out of the Supreme Court could apply to any selective admissions process, whether it is at the undergraduate level, the graduate level, or the high school level, especially in the case of selective schools with magnet or gifted and talented programs, according to Meyer with the Brookings Institution. In briefs filed by several K-12 groups supporting affirmative action in the elementary and secondary education contexts, one argument said that ruling against affirmative action would only increase efforts to limit books about and discussions of race in the K-12 classrooms. Affirmative action as currently allowed encourages students to believe that college is a viable option, regardless of where they're coming from, said Hinger with the ACLU. It also encourages students to know that they have people of their race, or those from a similar background, who have walked this path before, partially due to affirmative action. “Affirmative action is important to counteract the inequities in K-12 education. We know that K-12 schools are increasingly separated by both race and socioeconomics,” Hinger said. For instance, Black students are more likely to attend more segregated, less affluent schools, Hinger said.