Sotomayor Denies Mother’s Request to Place Son at Stuyvesant High School

Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected an emergency request from a Brooklyn mother to place her Asian American son at Stuyvesant High School. The judge denied the bid Monday without offering a specific reason for the decision. This denial stems from a lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Yi Fang Chen filed the suit in April, claiming New York City intentionally discriminates against Asian students through its revised admissions rules. She argues these changes boost enrollment for Black and Hispanic pupils while pushing others out. Her son, known only as M.P. in court papers, scored 558 on the Specialized High School Admissions Test. That score met every requirement, yet he missed admission by three points this year.

Chen's legal team says M.P. would have been accepted had the city not raised the cutoff score. The higher bar comes from a program reserved for students in economically disadvantaged schools. Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded this Discovery initiative in 2018. Under the new rules, the city set aside 20% of spots for applicants from middle schools where at least 60% of the student body qualifies as economically disadvantaged.

This threshold effectively locked out many low-income families whose schools fell just below the mark. Nearly three-quarters of Asian American students in New York City live in poverty. However, their schools often did not meet the strict 60% Economic Need Index standard required to access the reserved seats. Conversely, no student admitted through the Discovery program this year scored above 495 on the test. That is a massive gap when compared to the cutoff for those entering based solely on exam performance.

The lawsuit cites internal documents from the Department of Education and the Mayor's Office. Chen's attorneys claim these communications reveal an intent to engineer racial demographics rather than help struggling families. Dean McGee, who represents the plaintiff with Pacific Legal Foundation, told Fox News Digital that delayed justice is frustrating but confidence remains high in the courts. He insists they will uphold equal protection principles so no student faces lesser opportunities due to their race.

McGee issued a sharp statement calling the program a tool for racial engineering. He argued it excluded disadvantaged children across the city instead of helping them. "Equal protection means treating kids as individuals, not as demographic statistics," he said in his remarks. The case highlights how specific policies can reshape school rosters quickly and with lasting impact.