NYC High School Sports Shut Out Black, Latino Kids: Lawsuit

NEW YORK, NY — New York City's public high school sports system systematically keeps black and Latino kids off the field, a new class-action lawsuit argues. Students of those ethnicities are more than twice as likely as those of other races to attend a public high school without any sports teams due to the discriminatory policies of the Department of Education and the Public Schools Athletic League, according to the complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"When you understand how it actually impacts the individual students' lives ... you really understand what the DOE is depriving all of these students of," said Melissa Iachan, an attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which brought the case.

The Department of Education will review the lawsuit, a spokeswoman said.

The suit argues the DOE and the league have violated the city's Human Rights Law by giving mostly black and Latino schools far fewer sports teams and far less sports funding than other students.

The complaint cites several statistics demonstrating the racial disparity. Black and Latino students on average attend high schools with about 10 fewer sports teams than students of other races. Schools where no more than 10 percent of the students are black and Latino have an average of 42 teams, while schools that are at least 90 percent black and Latino have just 10 teams on average.

That all means students who bear the brunt of school segregation have fewer chances to participate in activities that can improve their physical and mental health and give them more opportunities in the future, according to the suit.

The lawsuit asks the state Supreme Court to force the DOE and the Public Schools Athletic League to fix the problem by changing their policies and practices.

Dozens of students rallied against the state of school sports on the steps of Tweed Courthouse Thursday morning, beating a drum and chanting "Still not equal!"

Lisa Parks, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case, is a 10th-grader at the Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters who ran track as a middle-schooler in Atlanta.

Parks, who is black, said the sport makes her feel "unstoppable." But she was upset and disappointed to find her new school didn't have a team when she came to New York a year ago.

"It's not fair and we want to do something about it," said Parks, 16.

The case comes amid a renewed conversation about school segregation, sparked in part by Mayor Bill de Blasio's and Chancellor Richard Carranza's effort to diversify the city's elite specialized high schools.

School officials are adding sports teams across the city each year and work with schools to "assess and address their individual needs in an equitable manner," DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said.

"We are dedicated to providing the maximum number of opportunities for all students to play on sports teams and take part in a transformative experience that strengthens school communities," Barbot said in a statement.

(Lead image: Students rally against racial disparities in New York City public school sports on Thursday morning. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)