Twenty years after the landmark University of California v. Bakke decision sanctioned race as a factor in college admissions, the Boston School Committee is bringing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that could be to public schools what the Bakke decision was to higher education.

The Committee, the ruling board of Boston's public school system, will appeal the Nov. 19 federal court ruling declaring Boston Latin School's admissions policies unconstitutional. The policies based on test scores, grades and race were devised in consultation with Harvard Professors of Law Christopher F. Edley Jr. and Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

"Our decision [to appeal] shows that we believe in a public school setting diversity...is an important component of well-rounded educational experience," said Elizabeth Reilinger, chair of the Boston School Committee. Four of the six Committee members voted for the move Wednesday night.

She said the Committee is now seeking "clarification" from the highest level. The Committee has another two and a half months to file the appeal with the Court.

"If we're going to get a ruling, we might as well get the ruling at the ultimate decision point," Reilinger said.

Boston's courts are not the first to strike down school desegregation. Courts fromOklahoma City to San Francisco have declared thatdiscrimination in school systems is now virtuallyeradicated and no longer in need of federaloversight.

If the Supreme Court accepts the Committee'sappeal, it would be the first time the nation'shighest Constitutional defenders hear a publicschool affirmative action case. But some fear thatBoston Latin's policy is not strong enough toclinch a victory for affirmative action in thistest case.

"They made a mistake in going back to courtwith a policy much like the one that was rejectedin earlier cases," said Professor of Education andSocial Policy Gary A. Orfield. "They should not goto the Supreme Court."

And some said Harvard is not immune. A broadruling on this case could potentially shake thefoundations of Byerly Hall and admissions officeson college campuses throughout the United States.Institutions of higher education in California,Texas and other states have already been bannedfrom using affirmative action as a factor inadmissions in recent years.

Boston Latin, the most prestigious of threeselective examination schools in Boston, has beenbattling complaints about its admissions policyfor three years.

In 1995, a case brought against Boston Latin byJulia McLaughlin successfully challenged theschool's policy of setting aside 35 percent of allseats for blacks and Hispanics--no longer mandatedby the federal court after 1987.

McLauglin, a white student initially deniedadmission by Boston Latin, claimed blacks andHispanics with lower test scores and grades hadbeen admitted instead of her to fill racialquotas. The University of California v.Bakke decision had deemed racial quotasunconstitutional.

After the case, Boston Latin called on Edley,Ogletree and the consulting firm, Bain & Co., tohelp it revamp its policy.

Under the new policy enacted in December 1996,Boston Latin assigned 50 percent of the placesbased on merit determined by entrance examinationresults and grade point average. School officialsallocated the remaining places on "flexibleracial/ethnic guidelines," determined by thepercentage of each of five ethnic and racialcategories in the applicant pool.

In carrying out this policy, Boston Latindenied admission to Sarah P. Wessmann, who appliedto Boston Latin with the 1997 ninth grade class.She and her lawyer Michael C. McLaughlin, who hadargued his daughter's case several years earlier,challenged the new policy as beingunconstitutional.

Stephan A. Thernstrom, Winthrop professor ofhistory, was the expert witness for the plaintiff."This indeed was still a quota system, andstudents were still being admitted or not admittedbased on their race," Thernstrom said in aninterview last night.