For Immediate Release
December 12, 2018
Livingston, New Jersey: Asian American Coalition of Education (AACE) has issued the following statement in support of a courageous fight against racial quotas taken up by several black and Hispanic parents in Hartford, Connecticut:
Through a November 2018 news report, AACE recently learned that a group of black and Hispanic parents have filed a lawsuit, Robinson v. Wentzell challenging the race-based magnet school choice lottery adopted by Hartford’s Regional School Choice Office (RSCO) under various city and state education agencies. Originally established to encourage racial integration and diversity, the Connecticut state law stipulates the RSCO to reserve 25 percent of admissions in Hartford’s interdistrict magnet schools for white and Asian students while cap African-American and Hispanic enrollment at 75 percent. Such a system of racial quotas is ineffective in achieving its diversity goals as magnet schools in Hartford failing to fulfill the 25% minimum for Asian and white students end up wasting admissions slots and public resources. As a result, hundreds of classroom seats are left empty each year in these schools while many black and Hispanic students are denied quality education.
As a national organization who fights against racial quotas of any kind, AACE strongly supports the plaintiffs in this lawsuit. What is happening in Hartford is a vivid example of how politicians place their ideology and their politically correct perception of “diversity” above the true purpose of their school districts—to provide quality education to the residents. We are outraged that black and Hispanic students are also victimized by racial quotas. Race-conscious RSCO lottery is a clearly violation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and must be redressed.
Mr. Yukong Zhao, the president of AACE commented: “It is shameful that politicians prioritize ideology and politics over the educational needs of American children. In the U.S., race-based education policies not only hurt Asian-American children, but also limit educational opportunities for black and Hispanic children. Our nation’s policies should focus on improving education quality in black and Hispanic communities, rather than engineering racial quotas in schools and colleges.”
Asian American Coalition for Education
MEDIA CONTACT:
Swan Lee: telephone: (617) 906-6380, email: swanleeca@gmail.com
Wenyuan Wu, telephone: (786) 393-8028, email: admin@asianamericanforeducation.org
About the AACE: www.asianamericanforeducation.org
Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) is a non-political, nonprofit, grassroots national organization, the proven leader in fighting for Asian-American children’s equal educational rights.
On May 23, 2016, the founders of AACE united 132 Asian-American organizations and jointly filed a civil rights violation complaint with the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice against Yale University’s discriminatory admissions practices against Asian Americans. This complaint is now being investigated by the Justice Department. Over the years, we have advanced the cause of educational equality for the Asian American community. In July 2018, the federal government adopted our policy recommendations by restoring Bush era guidance that prohibits the use of racial quotas and racial stereotypes in college admissions.