Shocking lawsuit claims NY high schools' admissions policy racially biased

New York City high school admissions policies are racially biased against black and Hispanic students.

A lawsuit filed in a federal civil rights complaint said that parents and activists have charged the school.

According to the New York Daily News, in the complaint, filed with the federal Office of Civil Rights, the parents and their lawyers call for a federal investigation and overhaul of a system that they claimed concentrates minority students in struggling high schools that are packed with high-needs pupils.

Education Law Center attorney Wendy Lecker, who filed the complaint, said that the city is sending African-American and Latino students to schools where they are much less likely to earn a diploma.

He added that new policies were required that gave all students a fair shot.

In 2011, 59 percent of Hispanic students and 60 percent of black students graduated from city high schools in four years, compared with 79 percent of white students and 83 percent of Asian students, the report said.

That year, 13 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students met college readiness standards, compared with 29 percent of students overall.

The high schools in New York admit students on the basis of academic records, state test scores, attendance, student preference, available space and other factors.

The complaint, the second such civil rights case filed against city schools in the last year, showed statistics that show high schools with more black and Hispanic students had graduation rates of 48 percent in 2010, compared with an average city graduation rate of 65 percent, the report added.