'We Have Our Work Cut Out for Us'

June 28, 2007 — -- All across the country, hundreds of school districts are trying to figure out how to achieve diversity without assigning students to schools based on their race after the Supreme Court's landmark decision about admissions policies.

In a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court said schools may not diversify their student bodies on the basis of race alone.

"We have our work cut out for us," said Francisco Negron of the National School Boards Association. "But I think it's a task that school boards all over the country are up to."

While many school officials said they were disappointed by the ruling, they do see a small opening in the opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy that says schools can at least take race into account when trying to make themselves diverse.

The school district in Wake Country, N.C., is one of about 40 across the country that have adopted race-neutral programs. They achieve diversity by assigning students based on socioeconomic status, not race.

They say the results have been outstanding, and while white students still outperform minorities the gap is closing.

"We're closing that gap faster -- about 50 percent faster than districts around the state and the nation," said Wake County Schools superintendent Dr. Del Burns.

But he said race-neutral programs won't work everywhere.

In San Francisco, which has a similar program, officials have discovered that race does not correlate with income.

"Without using race as a factor, we have found that schools have become more and more racially isolated in San Francisco, or segregated -- which is not what we want," said San Francisco school board member Jill Wynn.

Today, Justice Stephen Breyer, himself a graduate of the San Francisco public school system, said making classes diverse without assigning students based on race won't work.

But school officials who spoke with ABC News today said they have no choice but to try.