By Katie Pedersen, Reporter Correspondent
April 7, 2021
Katie Pedersen, Reporter Correspondent
Carolyn Nguyen, who grew up in Fields Corner, works as an engine assembly and intergration engineer for Blue Origin, an aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos. Nguyen is shown next to the BE-7 engine mock-up that she helped to build. Photo courtesy Carolyn Nguyen/Blue Origin
As a first-generation American growing up in Fields Corner, Carolyn Nguyen had no idea that she would one day be building rocket launch systems for Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space exploration company. However, she did enjoy dissembling the Barbies her mother bought her to figure out how the limbs were connected.
Federal judge to hear Boston exam school admission case Tuesday
By James Vaznis Globe Staff,Updated April 6, 2021, 1 hour ago
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Boston Latin AcademyDavid L. Ryan/Globe Staff
A Boston federal court judge on Tuesday is expected to hear oral arguments in a racial discrimination case brought by a group of white and Asian parents who contend that temporary changes to the admission policies for Bostonâs highly-regarded exam schools could disadvantage their children.
The arguments come one day after more than two dozen civil rights and other organizations announced they had filed briefs in support of the changes made last fall by the Boston School Committee.
Lawyers Debate Motivations Behind Boston Exam School Changes
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Lawyers for a parent group and the Boston School Committee differed Tuesday on the motivations behind temporary changes in admissions to the city s exam schools. A representative of white and Asian parents argued the plan was racially motivated, while the committee s counsel cited the pandemic and several diversity goals.
The arguments came in a federal lawsuit filed by Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence that contends the admissions plan for this year discriminates against white and Asian applicants in some neighborhoods. Because COVID-19 prevented the administering of an admissions test, the school committee last fall adopted a plan for this year to use grades received before the pandemic and zip codes to select students for Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the John D. O Bryant School of Mathematics and Science.
The federal judge reviewing Boston’s plan to reform its exam-school admissions policy for evidence of discrimination said he hopes to arrive at a decision in the coming weeks.
During a hearing Tuesday morning, Judge William Young acknowledged a “time constraint” that Boston Public Schools has yet to inform applicants whether they’ve been admitted to one of the city’s three selective high schools.
Young has sought to settle this case quickly given the need to plan for next year. But he also promised to weigh strong arguments from city officials and the parent group accusing them of putting white and Asian students at an unfair disadvantage.
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March 31, 2021
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