New York City is barring black and Latino students from attending its best high schools, alleges a blistering complaint by the NAACP to the U.S. Department of Education, according to the New York Daily News.
The NAACP says that minority students are not represented at eight of the city’s “best public schools,” including Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where only 1% of students are black, says the paper. Other schools that face a dearth of minority students are Brooklyn Technical High School and the Bronx High School of Science.
“Black and Latino students don’t see opportunity at places like Stuyvesant because of the admissions process,” said NAACP attorney Rachel Kleinman. “It’s not fair and it’s bad policy.”
According to the Daily News, the only method for judging students abilities is the city’s Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, and the NAACP believes the test is biased against black and Latino students.
Nearly 31 percent of white students and 35 percent of Asian students who score well on the test are welcome into the city’s elite schools, compared with only 5 percent of black students and 6.7 percent of Latinos.
According to the paper, 7 percent of students in specialized high schools are black, while black students make up 28 percent of the city’s overall enrollment in schools.
The U.S. Department of Education will review the complaint and, if discrimination is found, has promised a change in policy, though new state legislation may be required.
How about not committing a crime in the first place. It was the same with the firefighters test awhile ago in Ct. Blacks didn't score as high as whites or hispanics so they filed a lawsuit. Later in 2009, 19 whites and 1 hispanic were denied promotions because blacks again didn't score as well and city officials didn't want another lawsuit. If at first you can't succeed, sue and claim racism.
No, you should say teachers and families failing the kids.... not necessarily in that order. People need to put their children in Charter Schools where they have a fighting chance for an education. How many more examples do people need of our failing public school system? Obama eliminated the DC voucher system and has said that he would not send his kids to public schools. President Obama’s 2013 budget request not only recklessly increases funding for the Department of Education by another 3.5 percent (taking the bloated agency’s budget to $68.9 BILLION), it brazenly eliminates funding for the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. But not even a year ago, D.C. parents were elated to learn that Speaker Boehner had successfully fought for the program’s re-authorization.
I think the NAACP lawsuit serves only one purpose, to wake people up to the situation. I don't think the solution, however, is to change the standard of admission to the elite schools. I believe that we need to level the playing field. If the schools (charter and public alike) refuse or can't provide the level of education needed then parents and communities need to band together to provide alternative learning centers for our kids. We can create our own tutoring or learning centers that are affordable and available in our neighborhoods. The NAACP can facilitate these efforts. We have had very successful efforts to provide avenues for our children who have learning disabilities. I am glad that we are at least having a conversation about aiding our children whose intellectual gifts are not being supported.