Is diversity unnecessary?

Speaking of countercurrents in education:

The recent Supreme Court decision essentially says schools and districts cannot selectively enroll students in a school just to achieve integrated classrooms.

Two reading and child development experts recently presented data they claim proves that Black and Hispanic students who spend K-3 in segregated classrooms end up with lower reading achievement than those in integrated ones (regardless of economic level). (See my last post, “Separate but…?).

How important is it that children in our nation spend time with peers whose backgrounds differ from theirs? What do they learn from such experiences? What do they miss by not having those experiences? Is this the role of the schools or of their parents? Does a racially mixed classroom change the way teachers teach, or how resources are distributed?