Multi-Racial Coalition of Boston Students and Parents Defend Equal Access to Selective Boston Public Schools

Read a PDF of our statement here.

BOSTON, MA - Today, Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA), the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network (APIs CAN), NAACP Boston Branch, and NAACP New England Area Conference filed a brief in the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit defending equal access to Boston's selective Exam Schools: Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science.

The community organizations, which represent Black, Latinx, and Asian families in Boston, were granted intervention in Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence v. Boston School Committee earlier this summer. The organizations are represented by the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC (Advancing Justice - AAJC), and the NAACP's Office of General Counsel.

The lawsuit, filed by a group of white and Asian American parents and students represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, attempts to reinstate past discriminatory practices in Boston's public education system. BEJA, APIs CAN, and the Boston and New England Area Conference NAACPs intervened in the lawsuit to ensure that the voices and unique perspectives of those most likely to be impacted by this harmful lawsuit - Black, Latinx, and Asian students and families - will be heard in court.

Their brief explains that prior Exam School admissions policies unfairly excluded qualified Black and Latinx students and defends the ability of the Boston School Committee to revise its policies so that students of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses have an equal opportunity to compete for admission to the city's three selective schools.

"Bringing the voices of low-income and immigrant Asian families into the courtroom is a critical part of our advocacy for a fairer and more inclusive Boston Public School system," said APIs CAN Executive Director Jaya Savita. "As participants in this lawsuit, we will work to hold the line against further rollbacks of equitable admissions policies in Boston and across the nation."

"Participating in this case moves us one step forward in ensuring that talented Black, Latinx, and Asian public school students in Boston have a fair chance to attend selective schools," said BEJA Executive Director Keondré McClay. "We are proud to be a part of this case, bringing our voice and over a decade of experience working to ensure the Boston Public Schools system serves everyone in our community."

"Every child deserves a meaningful opportunity to attend a school where they can learn, grow, and thrive," said NAACP Boston Branch President Royal Smith. "This case is instrumental because Boston's Exam School admissions policies should expand that opportunity, not place additional obstacles in the path of students who have historically faced barriers to educational access. Together, we must continue to work toward a public education system where opportunity is available to every student."

"Boston Public Schools has both a responsibility and an obligation to ensure that the admissions process for its Exam Schools identifies qualified students from every neighborhood across the city, and that all students have a meaningful and equal opportunity not only to gain admission, but to thrive," said NAACP New England Area Conference President Tanisha M. Sullivan.

"This is an anti-civil rights lawsuit designed to roll back meaningful efforts by Boston Public Schools to address decades of discrimination in its Exam Schools admissions policies. Those efforts are lawful, and the Court's grant of intervention ensures that BEJA, APIs CAN, and the Boston and New England Area Conference NAACPs can defend the revised admissions policies and continue advocating for equalized access to selective schools for young students of all backgrounds," said Allison Scharfstein, Assistant Counsel at LDF. "The fight for equal opportunity in the United States could not be more urgent, and we are deeply committed to ensuring efforts to remove and remediate barriers to opportunity for underserved students are not undermined in court. We are honored to advocate for people and organizations working to champion the rights of students who are being unfairly denied equal access to the Boston Exam Schools."

"We are pleased that our community-focused coalition has been allowed to intervene in this case to counteract the harmful rhetoric that some students are inherently more qualified than others to succeed in the Exam Schools. All students, regardless of background and experience, deserve a fair chance to thrive," said Shalaka Phadnis, Litigation Staff Attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC. "We will continue to stand with community members to ensure that all students can access quality education on an equal playing field as their peers."

"This case is about making sure every student has a fair shot, regardless of their race or family income,"said Mariana Lopez, Equal Justice Works Fellow Sponsored by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. "LatinoJustice is proud to stand with our Latino, Black and Asian families to defend policies that expand opportunity and keep doors open for students who have too often been left out."

"Equitable school policies help all students, including the Asian families standing with their Black and Latinx neighbors in the fight for fair admissions to the Exam Schools," said Annie Lo, Staff Attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). "It is critical that the court hears from students and families with a long history of representing and advocating for the communities that would be most harmed by attacks on these hard-won policies. Meaningful public education depends on equal opportunities for all."

"The NAACP is committed to ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to receive a quality education," said Anson Asaka, Associate General Counsel for the NAACP. "We refuse to allow anyone to rollback the efforts to make the Boston Exam Schools' admissions policies more fair, equitable, and inclusive."

You can learn more about the case and view our legal filings here.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF)is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.

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The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) was founded in 1974 to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans. AALDEF serves diverse Asian communities around the country in solidarity with each other, communities of color, and marginalized groups. Community lawyering is at the heart of AALDEF's work, which combines litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing to secure human rights for all people.

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