A student's race should not determine their access to public education programs. The Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution specifically protects this type of discrimination. But this is exactly what is happening with New York State's Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP).
Originally intended to help students prepare for college, the program is open to any Black, Hispanic, American Indian, or Alaska Native student. Everyone else must meet strict income eligibility criteria. As a result, many students miss out on opportunities because their race is considered less valuable than other races.
One New York City mother isn't satisfied with this and is fighting back.
power of education
Yiatin Chu strongly believes in the power of education.
In the late 1960s, at a young age, Iatin's family immigrated to the United States. The American Dream meant something to her parents. Unlike other immigrants who came to this country because of political turmoil or economic instability in her home country, Iatin's parents had successful careers and a comfortable life surrounded by her wonderful friends. Ta. However, her parents wanted to give their three daughters the kind of opportunities available only in the United States.
The family moved into a small studio apartment in Murray Hill, Manhattan, where they instilled in their daughters the belief that education was the roadmap to success.
Iatin's parents always encouraged their daughters to excel in school. She worked hard on her studies, learning a whole new language. Although it was difficult, she is especially grateful to one of her teachers for helping her improve her vocabulary. She also developed a love for English, especially mystery books, devouring them as soon as they were available to her.
Her parents also worked hard and studied English while looking for jobs. Although both were highly educated, they had to consider jobs as janitors or clerical workers. Iatin says: “But that's what immigrants do.”
Her father found work in a factory running machinery, and her mother worked as a clerk at a Wall Street financial firm. In just a few years, they were able to buy a house in Queens. Overall, Iatin says she has had a typical American upbringing. Eventually, she applied to her vocational high school, Bronx High School of Science.
After high school, Iatin attended New York University at Binghamton, took out loans, supported himself, and worked. After completing her education, she started her career, got married and gave birth to her first daughter.
working mother
Life was busy and Iatin didn't have time to be a mom and attend every PTA meeting. Like most of her parents, she too lived her own life and took care of her family.
“I was working. The PTA needed something, so I wrote a check,” she says. “I didn't participate because I didn't have time to volunteer. I didn't read politics, I didn't read school books, I didn't even volunteer at the bread sale. I didn't do anything.”
She and her husband became estranged and eventually went their separate ways. Ms. Iatin remarried and she and her second husband welcomed their second daughter into the world when her first daughter was 13 years old.
At this point in her life, she began to spend more time and pay more attention to raising her daughter at home. Her younger daughter attended a so-called progressive school where homework was not allowed and her children were not academically pushed too hard. This didn't sit well with Iatin's daughter, who was often too bored to challenge herself. Iatin started looking for other options.
Private schools in Manhattan were out of the question due to their prohibitive costs, but Yating was looking for a Chinese dual language school on the Lower East Side, far from the Upper West Side. I found it by chance. Not only was the curriculum more difficult, but it also gave her daughter the opportunity to learn Chinese. Even though the school was quite far from home, my family grew to love it.
Sending her daughter to a new school will give Iatin an opportunity to assert her individual merits. She began volunteering at the school, where she connected with other parents, many of whom were immigrants from China.
Iatin told other parents that he had attended Bronx Science, and the parents told them that the city's vocational high school was now under attack. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio phased out merit-based, non-racial entrance exams in specialized high schools in an effort to create a racially diverse student body in the name of equity. He had announced his intentions. Not only did these policies violate the principle of equality before the law, but they also disproportionately harmed Asian American students.
In 2018, Pacific Legal Foundation joined the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY) to fight back in court. We are still awaiting a ruling from the Second Circuit.
This was a turning point for Iatin. In March 2019, she was asked by a grassroots organization run by her parents to testify at a mayoral hearing. She spoke fluent English, which made her a great asset to this activity. Shortly after, she opposed the Mayor's School Diversity Advisory Group when it further stepped up its attack on the city's ability after the group recommended eliminating gifted and talented programs. took the position of
She has seen first-hand how merit-based education has helped students from all backgrounds access opportunities that set them up for success. Since she herself was able to attend her science school in the Bronx, she wanted to give her daughters a similar opportunity. With New York City's constant attacks on personal ability, she worried that such opportunities would soon be lost forever.
Amid the turmoil in New York, a joint lawsuit before the Supreme Court arose. Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions vs. UNC.
caught the spotlight
On a humid summer day in Washington, D.C., in 2023, the Supreme Court issued the following joint decision: Harvard University and UNC An incident in which an Asian American student challenged a school's affirmative action admissions policy as racist. As with New York City's specialized high schools, these policies disproportionately impact Asian applicants, a fact acknowledged by major college admissions organizations.
In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education because it violates the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of equality before the law.
This was a major milestone in the fight for equality in public education. Iatin, who was thrilled by the decision, said: “I told her daughter that today is a big day. They stopped affirmative action. “Isn't that what you've been fighting for?'' ” she asked. of course. “
Confusion ensued.
Iatin found himself subject of criticism Members of the media, including Star Trek actor George Takei, accused her of being a “water carrier” for white supremacy.
She responded to her critics, saying, “Painting the merits of this case as defending white supremacy or against any particular group does not reflect what I want or what I want.'' I think that's a very misguided view of how we should end affirmative action.''When you say you want affirmative action to end, I think that's what most people want. ”
“This isn't about trying to denigrate other groups of people. It's really about fighting to ensure that our equal rights are not treated any further.”
While others may have been scared into silence by the online hate, Iatin was not.
The woman, who once described herself as quiet and apolitical, now says, “It's either quit and hide or get cancelled, or just keep talking.”
Just months after the Harvard decision, her fight for equality in education continues with a lawsuit against New York State's discriminatory STEP.
The next front line in the fight for educational equality
New York's STEP initiative has strayed from its original purpose. The program provides students in grades 7 through 12 with resources such as mentoring, test preparation, practical and research training, college admissions guidance, and career-focused activities such as field trips and college visits. It has become.
To be eligible for STEP, students must be economically disadvantaged or belong to a minority group that has been historically underrepresented in STEM. But STEP architects decide what “minority” means. Under its guidelines, students only qualify as an underrepresented minority if they are Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native.
This means that the children of billionaires who happen to identify as black are eligible for the STEP program. But that is not the case for Chinese American students whose parents are barely above the poverty line.
If a state decides to implement a program like STEP, it is possible; Must Upholding the Constitution's promise of equality before the law. Setting socio-economic limits is one thing, but economic necessity cannot be used to treat applicants differently based on their race. Adding racial stratification to eligibility requirements shows a blatant disregard for the Fourteenth Amendment.
For Yiatin, these requirements mean her daughter will miss out on the chance to attend college. She has taught her daughters all their lives that their accomplishments and education will help them get ahead, but New York state has blocked those opportunities because of their race.
Pacific Legal Foundation is helping Yiatin fight back against New York's discriminatory laws and protect equality under the law.
Iatin is fighting for equality, pure and simple.
“We're not asking for special treatment,” she says. “Please don't treat us differently than black students, Hispanic students, white students. That's all I want, no favoritism, no preference, just to be treated equally. .”
