A court has thrown out claims that a diversity initiative for New York City’s high schools discriminates against Asian Americans.
According to NBC News, an Asian parent-teacher organization and Asian American parents group, requested that a diversity initiative developed under former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and former New York City Department of Education chancellor Richard Carranza be halted.
The initiative began in 2018 when de Blasio and Carranza decided to expand the city’s Discovery program. According to The New York Times, the program was created in the 1990s to increase the number of low-income students attending New York City’s elite public high schools. These schools typically admit students through an admissions test.
Initially, the program only required that 5 percent of the incoming class be admitted through the Discovery program. Carranza and de Blasio increased it to 20 percent.
In December 2018, Asian American parent groups argued that the initiative violated the Equal Protection Clause. A majority of the low-income students who qualify for the Discovery are Black or Hispanic. The Asian American parents said it was unfair that a fifth of the seats be set aside, preventing their children from competing for them.
According to NBC News, a court denied the parents’ attempt to stop the initiative. On Wednesday, Bloomberg Law reports, Judge Edgardo Ramos denied another attempt. He said that the number of Asian American students at selective high schools increased after the changes had taken effect.
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Your headline is not accurate. It was not the Specialized high schools that sort to discriminate against Asian Americans, rather it was Deblasio and Carranza. SHS admit students through test score not a persons identity, therefore it is impossible to racially discriminate,
On the other hand, Deblasio and Carranza had the intention to manipulate policy to admit more Blacks and Hispanics at the expense of Asians. In their bigoted view, they thought Black students could be found if they sought to admit poorer students. Ironically the plan backfired and the poorer kids turned out be Asian American.
The lawsuit from CACAGNY was flawed. They were advised by some experienced members of their board to wait until results of the new policy were presented. Leadership did not heed this advice and therefore the results are a a failed lawsuit and a setback for Asian American advocacy.
Again, in irony, if the CACAGNY lawsuit was successful it would work against poor Asian American students.
Strategy is key in Asian American advocacy.