The future of affirmative action in education--not just for colleges but potentially for K-12 schools as well--may be on the line when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a race-conscious admissions plan from the University of Texas next month. That seems apparent to the scores of education groups that have lined up behind the university with friend-of-the-court briefs calling on the justices to uphold the plan and continue to recognize the need for racial diversity in the nation's schools and classrooms. K-12 programs could be affected by the outcome of a case on race-based college admissions coming up for argument at the U.S. Supreme Court. In an interview, Francisco M. Negron Jr., the general counsel of the NSBA and a co-author of the brief, emphasized the stakes in the scope of the issues posed in "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin" (Case No. 11-345), which is set for arguments Oct. 10. The "Fisher" case is one of the biggest of the court's new term, and for now is the only education case on the docket.