Eliminating racial gaps in K-12 education would advance the goal of a colorblind society.

Affirmative-action opponents should redirect their energies now that the Supreme Court has upheld the limited use of race in admissions. Instead of continuing to fight to dismantle affirmative action, opponents should focus on improving public education.

In the days since the court’s decision, opponents have promised to continue to make life difficult for affirmative-action supporters. They threaten to file lawsuits alleging that schools have not adequately experimented with race-neutral “alternatives.” They plan to vet potential Supreme Court appointments with an anti-affirmative action litmus test (hoping, perhaps, that Democrats will not filibuster such a nominee). They claim they will challenge affirmative action state by state through ballot initiatives and state legislation.

There is minimal gain in investing energy into these speculative and piecemeal strategies, however, because the Supreme Court rejected the overarching goal of the opponents. The Center for Individual Rights, the law firm behind the attack on the Michigan programs, stated that its goal was to achieve a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court that race-sensitive affirmative-action programs are unconstitutional. It viewed the Michigan cases as its best chance to achieve that goal.

The Supreme Court, however, rejected the Center for Individual Rights’ goal in no uncertain terms: “Our conclusion that the Law School has a compelling interest in a diverse student body is informed by our view that attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School’s proper institutional mission. This court has long recognized that ‘education … is the very foundation of good citizenship.

“In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.”

Instead of trying to rewrite history or circumvent the court’s ruling, opponents of affirmative action should heed another statement written by the court: “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.”

To ensure that affirmative action is no longer necessary, opponents should for the next 25 years invest their energy, time and money into improving public education for minority youth.

The racial achievement gap is significant, and 25 years is an ambitious schedule. In an educational system funded largely by local property taxes, huge disparities exist between urban and suburban per-pupil funding. Large racial gaps exist in standardized testing, college matriculation, and the availability of AP courses. Even in racially integrated, middle-class, suburban schools, teachers are more likely to track children of color away from advanced courses and toward remedial courses. Media images and peer pressure only solidify this tragedy.

Mere equalized funding might not be enough. Children benefit from the opportunities their parents can afford to give them, and the median net worth of white households ($61,000) is eight times greater than that of black households ($7,400) and more than 12 times greater than that of Latino households ($5,000). To reach the court’s deadline, we may need to emulate the triage practices of hospital emergency rooms and allocate educational resources based on need.

Eliminating racial gaps in K-12 education helps in a number of ways. First, it advances the affirmative-action opponents’ stated goal of a colorblind society. When the opponents file an anti-affirmative action lawsuit a generation from now, they will be more likely to win if the racial gaps are smaller. The uncertainty of the court’s attitude toward affirmative action in a quarter of a century also increases the incentives of supporters of affirmative action to work toward the elimination of racial disparities.

Supporters will be better equipped to work toward this long term goal if they do not have to invest limited resources toward defending against repeated attacks by opponents of affirmative action.

Second, a focus by opponents on eliminating racial gaps avoids the racial tension and balkanization that flow from a continued fight over affirmative action. This fight has already created a great deal of detachment, sadness and loss among people of color, as many feel as though their fellow citizens’ appetite for exclusion has reverted to 1950s Alabama.

Third, eliminating racial gaps is much more productive than a continued fight over affirmative action. The court has given us a concrete goal to end racial disparities by 2028, and we might be able to do it, or come close, if we get started now and work together.

The Court essentially told us that as a society, the Constitution does not force us to saddle children of color with the burden of the achievement gap.

All Americans should bear the burdens of our history – we all have an important role to play in resolving the problem. Affirmative-action opponents should recognize this truth. For the next 25 years, they should invest their time, energy and resources into improved public schools that eliminate racial disparities in education.

Spencer Overton teaches civil rights legislation at The George Washington University Law School. He is a co-creator of the Web site www.preserveaffirmativeaction.org.