Local technical and vocational school administrators are pushing back against accusations that their admissions policies are discriminatory, and that they should instead be made lottery-based.
Last month, the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus , a 26-member group of legislators co-chaired by state Sen. John Cronin, D-Fitchburg, and state Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, wrote a letter to Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll asking that the administration “direct the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to prohibit selective criteria that discriminates against disadvantaged 8th graders and inhibits their social and economic mobility.”
The letter goes on to ask the Healey administration to “mandate lottery admissions at vocational schools.” It came several months after the Vocational Education Justice Coalition , a group comprised of community and civil rights advocates, filed a complaint along similar lines with the U.S. Department of Education, according to WBUR.