High Court Rejects Brooklyn Mother’s Bid for High School Admission

Justice Sonia Sotomayor has turned down a Brooklyn mother’s urgent request to enroll her Asian-American son in a prestigious high school in New York City. The mother claims that the city’s program aimed at helping students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods is unfairly biasing against Asian students.

This legal dispute, initiated by Yi Fang Chen, revolves around her son’s inability to gain admission to Stuyvesant High School. Chen asserts that the updated admissions criteria in New York City intentionally discriminate against Asian students while favoring Black and Hispanic applicants. In her lawsuit filed in April, she argues that the city has contravened the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“It’s always frustrating to face delays in justice, but we trust the courts will uphold fundamental principles of equal protection and ensure that no student, including our client’s son, is seen as less deserving of educational opportunities due to their race,” commented Dean McGee, an attorney for the plaintiff.

Sotomayor did not provide a reason for denying the emergency request, which is part of a pending case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

In court documents, Chen’s son, referred to as M.P., achieved a score of 558 on the Specialized High School Admissions Test—necessary for admission. He was just three points away from the required score and claims he would have been accepted if the city had not raised the threshold. This adjustment is linked to the city’s decision to reserve 20% of admissions for students categorized as “economically disadvantaged,” a change introduced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2018.

The Discovery program specifically targeted students from middle schools where at least 60% of the student body was classified as economically disadvantaged. Thus, students from economically challenged backgrounds might be excluded if their schools did not meet this threshold.

This year, none of the students admitted through the Discovery program scored above 495—significantly lower than the cutoff score for those admitted solely on the basis of their SHSAT results without considerations for economic disadvantage.

Although roughly 75% of Asian-American students in New York City come from low-income families, many attended middle schools that failed to meet the 60% Economic Need Index requirement.

The lawsuit draws attention to communications allegedly from the New York City Department of Education and the Mayor’s Office, indicating that the program’s intent was to boost enrollment of Black and Hispanic students, potentially at the cost of Asian students.

McGee concluded, “Yi Fang Chen’s son was denied a place at Stuyvesant because the city turned a program designed to assist economically disadvantaged students into a means of racial division that excluded deserving children from across the city. True equal protection involves treating children as individuals rather than as statistics.”