A coalition of civil rights organizations, community groups and elected officials is calling for the state to change the admissions process for regional vocational technical high schools in Massachusetts, saying the current system is discriminatory and excludes students who could benefit the most from vocational training.
No longer dumping grounds for struggling students, the state's 26 regional vocational schools have improved their academics, attracting high achievers and making admissions more competitive. The schools are allowed to rank applicants based on grades, attendance, discipline records and recommendations from guidance counselors.
"All of these factors have been found to be discriminatory,"said Jack Livramento of United Interfaith Action of New Bedford and Fall River during a virtual news conference Thursday. "And together, they violate both state and federal laws."
The coalition said the current admissions process particularly discriminates against students of color, economically disadvantaged students and English language learners while they are still in middle school.
A 2019 analysis of admissions to vocational technical schools by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education showed the acceptance rate for students of color was 60%, compared to 73% for white students. Some 51% of English learners were accepted versus 69% of students proficient in English. The acceptance rate for economically disadvantaged students was 58%, compared to more than 75% of more prosperous students. The report also found disparities for students with disabilities.
The organizations, which together make up the Vocational Education Justice Coalition, urged Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley to recommend when the state board meets next month that it shift to a lottery system for admissions.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said the department has been gathering data to analyze the admissions process, and that Riley has yet to make a recommendation on the issue. Once he does, the board will vote on whether to seek public comment. The spokesperson emphasized that the department is making an effort to expand access and increase applications to its career and technical programs.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said the department hasn't done enough to address the issue.
"Last year, I wrote a letter just before the pandemic that some 23 mayors around the state signed on to that said this process has to end," Mitchell said during the news conference. "There are enormous disparities around the state in vocational admissions that cannot be justified by any legitimate educational purpose."
Mitchell said the numbers illustrating the disparities are presented to the department every year, but the state has not taken action in response.
"To erect a barrier to children based on their middle school performance, especially those children who have immigrated to the country, who have burdens that other children can't even imagine, it's just deeply unfair, and it's not right," Mitchell said. "We need something that is more fair, more transparent, more neutral. And that is a lottery. It's good enough for charter schools. It is above board. It is. It can be verified."
Beth Kontos, president of AFT Massachusetts, a teachers union, participated in the news conference. "Ranking students by grades by the end of eighth grade should not determine a child's career choices," she said.
Coalition members said the competitive admissions system means vocational technical schools are admitting students who are choosing to go to college after graduation, rather than entering trades, leading to a shortage of trained workers. Tom Fisher of the North Atlantic States Carpenters Training Fund said that's been a problem in his field.
"The increasing drop off in numbers of vocational graduates seeking entry into our trade programs, which is now at an all time low, is of great concern, as I wonder how many students are not being given the opportunity to pursue a well-paid career in the construction trades due to admission policies which exclude them from this opportunity," Fisher said.
Nina Hackel, who owns a kitchen remodeling company, said she's having troubling growing her business because of the labor shortage.
"It's not just me. It affects the whole economy that we do not have this labor force," she said.
State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, described the proposed admissions change as a way to help ensure the state's economic recovery from the pandemic is equitable.
"One of the most important and fastest ways we can do that is fixing an admission system that has systematically locked out the people who need it the most," he said.
