Around New England

Merit-Based Admissions To Vocational Schools Discriminate Against Racial Minorities, Disabled, Immigrants, and Poor Kids, Massachusetts State Legislators Say

December 20, 2023

Using grades, attendance, disciplinary record, and interviews to evaluate eighth-graders applying to selective regional vocational high schools discriminates against “students of color,” “students with a disability,” “English language learners,” and “economically disadvantaged students,” members of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus say.

Instead, vocational schools ought to make admission random, they told Governor Maura Healey.

“We respectfully request you mandate lottery admissions at vocational schools to hold these institutions to the same equity standard our charter schools have successfully met for the past three decades: a standard where every applicant within a municipality, regardless of race, national origin, disability, or household income, has the same chance at admission to these public high schools,” states a letter to Governor Healey dated Wednesday, December 20 signed by state Representative Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford) and state Senator John Cronin (D-Lunenburg), who are co-chairmen of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus.

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