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To the Editor: 

Sharon Browne, an attorney with the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, is absolutely correct when she states (Daily Planet, Nov. 8) that “If they [Berekely Unified School District] are using different social indicators as a proxy for race, that would violate Proposition 209.” 

The Student Assignment Advisory Committee is not suggesting that we “drop racial balance,” as the title of the Daily Planet article implies, nor are we suggesting using diversity factors as a “proxy for race,” which Ms. Browne rightly cautions against. Our current student placement plan to achieve student diversity has two significant weaknesses: diversity is being narrowly defined as being only about race, and using race as a factor in our plan, which is now illegal. 

Our committee spent considerable time and effort considering the issues of diversity and equity in our schools. We examined district statistics, academic studies, legal cases, etc. We came to the conclusion that diversity is valuable in education for reasons that are of benefit to the individual student, the district, and the community at large. We concluded that diversity helps promote equitable schools and that mere racial diversity is not enough. We need racial and ethnic diversity as well as diversity by many other measures including the “social capitol” of the family (income, education, access to resources, etc.). 

The system we are proposing is designed to create diversity across a number of factors, something we have identified as beneficial. The proposed new system does not use race as a factor in placing students (in compliance with Proposition 209,) and it results in different measures of diversity including race, socioeconomic, etc. 

These issues are complicated and require significant time for proper explaination. To that end, we are holding a public forum at Malcolm X Elementary School on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. We invite members of the public to attend, understand the issues and share feedback with us. 

Derick Miller and Roia Ferrazares 

Student Assignment Advisory Committee