{"id":14616,"date":"2025-10-24T04:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14616\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T04:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:29:08","slug":"court-tosses-suit-claiming-nycs-gifted-and-talented-programs-are-racially-biased-win-for-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14616\/","title":{"rendered":"Court tosses suit claiming NYC’s Gifted and Talented programs are racially biased: ‘Win for parents’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state\u2019s top court tossed out a lawsuit Thursday that claimed New York City\u2019s gifted and talented programs \u2014 which mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani wants to phase out<\/a> \u2014 are racially biased against black and Latino students.<\/p>\n

The suit, filed against the city and state by 13 anonymous students and the group IntegrateNYC in March 2021, alleged the screening and tests for admissions into the select programs and schools favored white and Asian students, relegating minority students to inferior classes.<\/p>\n

But the Court of Appeals, in a 5-2 decision, disagreed, ruling the lawsuit failed to prove systemic discrimination or intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs plaintiffs have failed to adequately plead that they were denied a sound basic education<\/a>, the claim must be dismissed,\u201d Associate Justice Michael Garcia wrote for the majority opinion.<\/p>\n

\"KidsThe court ruled the lawsuit failed to show systemic discrimination in NYC\u2019s gifted and talented programs in schools. Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n

The suit said black and Latino students received only 4.5% and 6.6% of admission offers at specialized high schools such as Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, although they composed a combined 70% of all students.<\/p>\n

The state Supreme Court had tossed out the case, but the Appellate Division reversed. The Court of Appeals had the final say in favor of the defendants.<\/p>\n

But Associate Justice Jenny Rivera issued a withering dissent, saying the plaintiffs had laid out a \u201cstunning indictment\u201d of the New York City public education system and exposed \u201cdiscriminatory governmental practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

A parent group supporting G&T and other merit-based programs applauded the ruling.<\/p>\n

\"SchoolOne parent who spoke to The Post said she was \u201crelieved\u201d by the court\u2019s decision. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ruling reaffirms the integrity of merit-driven selection processes that ensure every child, regardless of background, has a fair shot at excellence in our public schools,\u201d PLACE NYC (Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education) said Thursday night.<\/p>\n

PLACE NYC\u2019s co-president Yiatin Chu said the decision \u201cis a win for parents and students who believe in rewarding hard work and nurturing potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ruling sends a clear message that New York will continue to prioritize student achievement and provide opportunities for accelerated learners,\u201d added Chu.<\/p>\n

Jean Hahn, a parent of a gifted and talented student who intervened on behalf of the defendants, was elated.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs a parent defendant, I\u2019m relieved the court has debunked the misconception that gifted programs are racist<\/a> and recognized gifted students\u2019 valid needs,\u201d Hahn told The Post Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully this puts an end to the misguided attacks on an issue that should never have been politicized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani has proposed eliminating gifted and talented programs for grades K to 3, sparking backlash from some parents. <\/p>\n

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio had scrapped G&T programs in lower elementary school grades on his way out the door in 2021, but the controversial change was reversed by Mayor Eric Adams when he took office. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The state\u2019s top court tossed out a lawsuit Thursday that claimed New York City\u2019s gifted and talented programs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[419,10836,57,9,56,63,65,64,209,5271,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-14616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-courts","9":"tag-gifted-and-talented","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news","16":"tag-public-schools","17":"tag-schools","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}