To read on Students for Fair Admissions, Inc v. President and Fellows of Harvard College

 aka, the affirmative action case decided Thursday

First, it's probably wise to note that this case was specifically about college admissions; beyond those sorts of decisions (which are rare for K-12 to have to make), this doesn't have that sort of impact on K-12.

I have seen several notes, mostly on Twitter, that this should, though, send us strongly back into equity work in K-12. As the Shanker Institute report on how housing discrimination impacts school funding was cited in Justice Sotomayor's dissent (note 8), that is a piece of the disparate outcomes (see Bruce Baker's thread here), and so is part of what we can do.

A cautionary note from Derek Black:

Crucial to be careful w/ our language. Yes, the court found Harvard & UNC’s diversity programs unconstitutional but it did not overturn Grutter & it explicitly left the door open to the pursuit of diversity. 1/ https://t.co/enxUasAkyB

— Derek W. Black (@DerekWBlack) June 29, 2023

I think Politico's summary of what the decision says is good.

The kind-of loophole left by the majority decision is covered by Jacobin. What Chief Justice Roberts wrote is as follows: 

...nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise. But, despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.

 The Intercept covers the exception (in a footnote!) Roberts and the majority left: for military academies:

The court is apparently hesitant to prioritize demographic diversity in admissions to colleges that, ultimately, determine the future appearance of the country’s elite. But the same concerns do not seem to apply to the military, where one of the possibilities of membership, rather than joining the gilded class, is being severely injured or killed in one of the U.S.’s many foreign military conflicts.

Chalkbeat hits three probably outcomes of the decision:

1. Black, Latino, and Native students will be less likely to get into top colleges
2. Students, and their school counselors, will have to navigate a new college admissions terrain
3. Some students of color may lower their college ambitions

And to those last two, an essay from a college counselor speaks of "leaning into" the changes.

And I'll leave you with Alexandria Petri's satirical take in the Washington Post (gift link for non-subscribers)