…the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) submitted an amicus brief to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence Corp. v. School Committee of the City of Boston. In its brief, the Association presented published position statements, articles, and policy positions in support of the Boston School Committee’s efforts to remove barriers of access and ensure greater equity for all students in the admissions process for its three exam schools.
Civil Rights Groups Submit Amicus Brief in Support of Race-neutral Admissions Policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Appellee appears to recognize that controlling precedent foreclosed a finding
NAACPLDF Amicus
of discriminatory intent, but nevertheless invited the district court to misapply the
law in furtherance of its attempt to change the law to prevent schools across the
country from removing known barriers to opportunity and adopting race-neutral,
research-based reforms to promote equality.
…Using past results as a baseline is not only improper, it is woefully misleading.
As the district court in Boston Parent correctly noted, when a racial group has been
significantly overrepresented in the prior system, “nearly any changes to the
admissions process will likely result in some reduction, if only from the law of
averages.”
What to know about suit challenging alleged ‘racist’ education system in NYC
…“The system reproduced by the New York City public schools is fundamentally one of caste: an artificial, graded ‘ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of other groups on the basis of,’ in the United States, race,” the suit says.
This system, the complaint says, is accomplished by effectively setting groups apart at an early age and perpetuating those divisions.
“Consequently, the demographics of the City’s G&T programs reflect disparate familial resources, enrolling predominantly white and certain Asian students,” the suit says.
The legal battle over high school entrance exams
The points made in this article cannot be overstated. The Hecht-Calandra Act may be an unknown, obscure law to many Americans, including New Yorkers. But this law may be the small crack in the armor that allows conservative legal groups to defeat all race-conscious equity schemes.
…McAuliffe PTO is just the latest federal case involving Asian American plaintiffs (though funded and orchestrated by conservative legal strategists Edward Blum and the Pacific Legal Foundation) alleging that racial diversity efforts in admissions discriminate against them, and we can expect more such cases to be filed in the future.
Lawyers Argue the Discovery Program on Injunction Appeal
In an attempt to appeal an earlier district court preliminary injunction decision plaintiff lawyers argue that the Discovery Program is somehow racist.
It should be noted that…
- …that the Discovery program was started in the 1960s and predates the SHSAT exam and Hecht-Calandra itself.
- also, the Discovery program was reserved roughly 15% of offers in 1971.
- and that it was the express legislative intent of Hecht-Calandra to give the mayor unlimited control over the level of offers in the discovery program.
NEW YORK’S SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOLS NEED MORE STUDENTS LIKE OBRIAN
…Obrian was devastated when he found out he didn’t score high enough on the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) to attend Brooklyn Technical High School, one of New York City’s most selective high schools. Unlike many of the students who gain admission to the city’s specialized high schools, his family didn’t have the resources to spend thousands of dollars on test prep.
His score on the SHSAT put him just below the cutoff mark for Brooklyn Technical High School. But because of the Discovery Program – which allows students from low-income communities who score just below the standardized test cutoff to earn admission to the specialized high schools – Obrian was able to attend a summer program and then start at Brooklyn Tech his freshman year.
Seven NYC Students Didn’t Get Seats in Elite Schools, So They Asked State for Help
Another attack on NYC’s specialized high school diversity efforts. This is representing attorney Claude M. Millman’s ( Bronx Science ’81 Alumni ) second legal action against the SHSAT reform that I know of.
Previously he represented a coalition of anti-reform protesters in another SHSAT related matter in 2014.
I believe but haven’t confirmed that this filing was done through the state education department’s appeals process: Appeals or Petitions to Commissioner of Education. Maybe SHSAT reform supporters should have been filing petitions all along?…
NAACP LDF Joins McAuliffe Trial
…
McAuliffe vs. NYC Pretrial Conference Transcript
March 7th, 2019
With all the discussion of “disparate impact” I don’t understand why Sandoval Decision doesn’t apply.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_v._Sandoval
I’m an Asian American graduate of Brooklyn Tech. Please don’t use me as a wedge in your education lawsuit
…The lawsuit, brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation ostensibly to contest alleged discrimination against Asian American students, targets changes to the city’s expanding Discovery Program. It allows students attending low-income middle schools to receive an offer to one of the city’s elite high schools if they score just below the admissions cut-off on the Specialized High School Admissions Test.
Fortunately, a district judge ruled Feb. 25 that the preliminary injunction the plaintiffs sought to halt the plan was not warranted. But the Pacific Legal Foundation appears prepared to take its case all the way to the U.S.