FORDHAM LAW NEWS — The Fordham Urban Law Journal will kick off this year’s spring symposium season by bringing attention to admission practices found in urban public schools across the country. The symposium will be held in a hybrid format from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11. Critics in local communities, the courts, and media have raised challenges over the racial composition of student populations at public K-12 schools that admit students solely on the basis of an academic examination. In New York City, Black and Latino students, who constitute 67 percent of the overall public school population, made up only 10 percent of those admitted to the specialized public high schools that require a standardized test in 2018. In response, some policymakers have begun to challenge existing legislation and are considering proposals that could alter schools’ admissions practices. Underlying the debate over whether admission by test is an appropriate or desirable policy for urban public schools are deeper questions about merit and equity through an education lens. “I’m not sure there is an obvious solution, but I hope attendees come away with some new ideas about why this is such a hard question and how it might be solved,” says symposium editor Stephen Rutman ’22.