On September 24th, the Coalition of Asian American Children and Families of New York (CACAGNY) and other plaintiffs won their appeal against the New York City’s expansion of the “Discovery Program” in the admissions process for specialized high schools, which lowered admission scores for students. The case will be sent back to the district court for a retrial.
The Coalition of Asian American Children and Families of New York prevailed in their lawsuit against the admissions policy of specialized high schools in New York City. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the coalition, stating that the lower court had erroneously dismissed their case. As a result, the case will be returned to the district court for further proceedings under Judge Ramos. This means the case will go through judicial procedures again, including possible hearings and evidence presentation.
The origins of this case trace back to December 2018 when the coalition and other plaintiffs sued New York City, alleging that the city’s expansion of the “Discovery Program,” a pathway for admission to specialized high schools, constituted “racial discrimination.” The renowned Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) had been the sole criterion for admissions since 1971, protected by the Hecht-Calandra Act.
During the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Department of Education increased the quota for the “Discovery Program,” also known as the “Expanded Discovery” program, from 5% to 20%. The original intention of this program was to allow students with scores close to the cutoff for specialized high schools to access additional learning opportunities during the summer. Initially, the program had a 5% quota and required a family’s Economic Need Index (ENI) to be above 60%.
Since participation in this program was not based on student applications but on recommendations by the education department, it led to an acknowledgment that the “Discovery Program” aimed to facilitate the entry of more Hispanic and Black students into specialized high schools. At the time, although Hispanic and Black students comprised 70% of the student population in New York City, they only represented 10% in specialized high schools. Therefore, this program was intended to balance the racial composition of specialized high schools.
The Coalition of Asian American Children and Families of New York, along with other plaintiffs, argued that the “Discovery Program” deprived Asian students of competing for this one-fifth opportunity, violating equal protection clauses and constituting racial discrimination. However, a federal judge in New York argued that the “Discovery Program” did not reduce the proportion of Asian students in specialized high schools and rejected the plaintiffs’ plea to suspend the program. The plaintiffs vowed to pursue their case all the way to the Supreme Court through appeals.
“We believe that public school students and parents who believe in strict merit-based admissions criteria should rejoice over the decision made by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on September 24th,” stated the Coalition of Asian American Children and Families of New York. “The court fundamentally affirmed the correct understanding of ‘justice,’ emphasizing that ‘injustice’ is individual, not collective. In an era where there is increasing support for collective compensation and punishment based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and beliefs, the Pacific Legal Foundation and the appeals court clarified that ‘justice’ is fundamentally individual and not collective, and they deserve praise for this.”
The coalition cautioned that the legal battle is far from over, as the case is still in progress at the district court where the plaintiffs were initially denied relief. Their statement emphasized, “However, the principles we fight for are profound, significant, and worthy of pursuit all the way to the Supreme Court.”
The plaintiffs’ lawyers at the Pacific Legal Foundation hailed the ruling as a “significant victory” for Asian American citizens in the United States.
“Today’s decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals marks a major victory for families striving to place their children in New York City’s elite specialized high schools,” their statement expressed. “The unanimous conclusion of the court is that New York City’s revised admissions policy unlawfully discriminates against Asian American students, and our clients have the right to investigate whether this policy was motivated by discriminatory intent.”
Our attempts to reach the New York City Department of Education for comment have been unsuccessful as of now.