About-Face in New York Schools

Last fall, candidates for teaching positions in New York City encountered an unusual selection process. When they reported for assignment, they discovered that job openings had been divided between two boxes. One contained assignments in mainly white school districts; the other in districts where the student body is mainly black or Hispanic. White applicants had to select from the “minority” box; black and Hispanic applicants from the “white” box.

This procedure was the fruit of an agreement between the Board of Education and the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), an agency which proclaims: “Employment selection based on grounds of race, ethnicity, sex, or religion constitutes discrimination . . .”

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Herman Arthur

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Last fall, candidates for teaching positions in New York City encountered an unusual selection process. When they reported for assignment, they discovered that job openings had been divided between two boxes. One contained assignments in mainly white school districts; the other in districts where the student body is mainly black or Hispanic. White applicants had to select from the “minority” box; black and Hispanic applicants from the “white” box.

This procedure was the fruit of an agreement between the Board of Education and the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), an agency which proclaims: “Employment selection based on grounds of race, ethnicity, sex, or religion constitutes discrimination . . .”