Segregation in Seattle (sort of)

Seattle has an interesting way of determining which students go to certain high schools:

Students can seek admission to any of Seattle's high schools. But the Seattle School District decided to engineer a precise racial balance in its most popular -- because much better -- high schools, which are chosen by more students than they can accommodate. The district wanted each oversubscribed school to reflect the entire system's ratio of 40 percent whites and 60 percent nonwhites. So it adopted a race-based admission plan to shape the schools' "diversity." (George Will in the Washington Post)

Sounds like a quota to me. Haven't we learned yet that these things should just be race-blind, and leave it at that?

ADDED: I've been filling out law school applications, and I left the race question blank (it's always optional). Does anyone else do the same thing? I think it's mostly irrelevant and that acceptance should be based on merit. The personal statement allows for an explanation of anything that might have hindered an applicant's achievement, and that's the most appropriate place to address a racial concern if the applicant thinks that it has affected their achievement.