Statement on the Admissions Process for Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School and the John D. O’Bryant High School of Math & Science

The Boston Coalition for Education Equity calls on Mayor Walsh and the Boston School Committee to honor the unanimous recommendation of the School Committee’s Opportunity and Achievement Gap Task Force, and for the School Committee to vote to suspend the admissions policy to remove the testing requirement for Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School and the John D. O’Bryant High School of Math & Science for the upcoming admissions cycle. 

The current admissions process for these three schools already consistently produces racially unjust outcomes. We know this is not a new conversation given the reports and recommendations from Lawyers for Civil Rights, the NAACP Boston Branch, and other education experts leading up to this point. The unprecedented action on the part of the School Committee OAG Task Force calling for a suspension of the test as part of the next admissions process and the subsequent outcry from thousands of residents and supporters, demand that the School Committee take immediate action to revise the admissions policy and remove the testing requirement for this year due to the COVID-19 crisis.  

We are now in a pandemic that disproportionately impacts Black and LatinX communities.

Mayor Walsh has declared racism a public health crisis in the City of Boston. That crisis makes it even more imperative to suspend admissions testing this year given the barriers many low-income students face in obtaining the academic support they need to fully access a high quality public education during the pandemic. Contrast this with students from middle class and higher income homes who may not be financially limited in accessing the tutors and supplemental academic support necessary to not only receive a high quality education during this time, but also be prepared to demonstrate their aptitude on a high stakes test. 

Racial equity should be the top priority in deciding any interim process during this crisis that disproportionately impacts Black and LatinX families. Even our nation’s most elite colleges and universities are suspending the use of tests in the admissions process for the upcoming selection cycle.

Moving forward with an admissions policy that includes a test perpetuates structural racism and fails to meet the calls of the current anti-racist movement. This moment of widespread and deepening inequity demands that the School Committee disrupt the status quo and act intentionally to implement an explicitly anti-racist admissions process.

To learn more about ongoing efforts to create a more equitable admission process, visit our Selective High School Admissions Equity Resource Page.

The Boston Coalition for Education Equity is a collaboration among civil rights, education, and community organizations across the city of Boston that are committed to dismantling education inequity.

Full list of organizations who have signed on to this statement:

  • NAACP Boston Branch

  • Lawyers for Civil Rights

  • Black Teachers Matter

  • Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA)

  • Boston Network for Black Student Achievement

  • Citizens for Public Schools

  • Downtown Progressives

  • Healthy Food for Boston Schools Action Network

  • JP Progressives

  • Mijente Boston

  • Progressive West Roxbury /Roslindale

  • QUEST

  • Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ)