[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 128 (Saturday, August 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 30, 2007

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my 
colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to express my concern for 
diminishing access to higher education opportunities.
  We live in a country where the education system is flawed from the 
ground up. The lack of proper instruction throughout elementary, 
middle, and secondary school has left many of the under-represented 
minorities even further behind their classmates. The lack of provisions 
and support provided to schools in historically black neighborhoods has 
caused the number of African-Americans applying and enrolled in 
professional schools to drop.
  The number of African-Americans in both the medical and legal 
professions is anemic compared to the number that live in our country. 
Even though African Americans make up over 13 percent of the country's 
population, a recent study found that they make up only 3.9 percent of 
lawyers and 3.3 percent of physicians.
  Madam Speaker, there are a multitude of reasons as to why African-
American presence in law school dropped from 7.5 percent to 6.8 percent 
from 1994 to 2004. Many blame the law school admissions' over-reliance 
on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test). This test, which has never 
been proven to be a successful forecaster of achievement in law school 
or aptitude as a lawyer, usually makes up over half the criteria that 
law school admissions counselors use to base their admissions decisions 
on. The inflated dependence on the LSAT, which studies show is in and 
of itself biased, has led to a sharp decline of both applications and 
enrollment by African-Americans into law school.
  The necessity for schools to raise the median LSAT scores of the 
applicants they accept has caused a dramatic drop in the number of 
African-American law school students. In a study from 2002 to 2004, the 
25th percentile LSAT score for law schools in my home State of Florida 
rose from 149 to 151. In that same time period, African-
American enrollment in Florida law school dropped from 557 to 508 
students, or nearly 10 percent, while total enrollment rose by 14 
percent.

  Madam Speaker, we need to challenge this disturbing trend or we are 
facing a future in which there is a complete lack of African-American 
presence in the legal world. This trend challenges the right of 
African-Americans to engage in the legal process of this great Nation.
  One major issue that we can influence is the lack of support and 
education for those interested in a career in law. Many young African-
American high school and college students have not had the exposure or 
have become discouraged by the mass of reports of diminishing African 
American law school enrollment. With encouragement from current black 
lawyers and those in support of more diversity in the legal profession, 
we can help build a proper education system for all students of this 
Nation.
  This is not just about law school. We need to work together, from as 
early as elementary school, to provide the necessary tools to challenge 
the current pattern of disinvestment in education. Our educational 
system must give everyone the proper training and experience necessary 
to enter higher education and, someday, the professional world.

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