Under pressure, state education officials vote to change admissions requirements for vocational schools
By Naomi Martin Globe Staff,Updated April 20, 2021, 7:07 p.m.
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Students at Blue Hills Regional Technical School attended socially distanced classes in person in September in courses such as automotive technology, electricity, cosmetology, and culinary arts.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
State education officials on Tuesday approved preliminary changes to the admissions process at vocational high schools aimed at giving disadvantaged students a better chance of attending.
The unanimous vote by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education came after members and
advocates
criticized
the current criteria as unfair to students of color, low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities, depriving them of an important career pathway.
Proposed changes to vocational school admission standards, which have been called discriminatory, to open up for public comment
Updated Apr 20, 2021;
Aya Faiz, a Chelsea high school sophomore, told members of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education during a meeting Tuesday that she was suspended for two days in middle school for saying a curse word. She said her white peers had used curse words in school and got detention instead. It has made her feel cautious about her behavior in school, she said.
Advocates who want to see changes in vocational school admission standards say harsher punishments for students of color, like what Faiz described, contribute to seeing a student body in career schools that is less diverse than its pool of applicants. A student’s discipline record is among the criteria currently used to rank prospective students.