Get a 'Marshall Plan' for success of all schools

Before I retired as a social studies teacher, I frequently grappled in teaching affirmative action objectively. When I taught "Bakke v. the Regents of the University of California" (1978), Alan Bakke's argument that admitting less qualified candidates with lower GPAs or MCAT scores to medical school based on racial quotas as discriminatory was a compelling supposition. Furthermore, it was judicious that while the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action and allowed race to be a factor in determining college admission, racial quotas were verboten.

Conversely, I pondered the centuries that African Americans endured the horrors of slavery followed by de jure racial discrimination precipitated by the Supreme Court's decision "Plessy v. Ferguson" (1896) which introduced the prejudicial doctrine of "separate but equal." African Americans were provided an unequitable playing field to overcome educationally and economically.

With the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unconstitutional, both proponents and opponents of affirmative action have stated strong, compelling perspectives. Consequently, I reflect on the 32 years that I taught at an affluent, high-achieving school district in the northern suburbs. Every year, I would tell my students how fortunate they were to be attending a school district that provided a plethora of educational opportunities to thrive and succeed.

Moreover, I hearken back to my years as a CPS student and ruminate the many students living in impoverished, crime-ridden neighborhoods saddled with poor schools. It's hard to get excited about reading William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" when your foremost priority is to safely get to and from school.

Therefore, I propose a "Marshall Plan" for public education. We need to fully and equitably invest in every school whether, it's located in an affluent suburb or the west side of Chicago. Simply stated: every child deserves the same educational opportunities and experiences to succeed.

By wholly investing in every student, affirmative action would inevitably disappear.

I reflect on the wisdom derived from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Let us strive to bring Dr. King's dream to fruition.

Lawrence E. Bonk

Roselle