The school district in the heavily immigrant city of Utica discriminates against older students with limited English skills by refusing to let them attend the only high school, instead steering them into “dead-end” programs that offer no chance for a diploma, the state attorney general’s office said Wednesday in announcing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argues in State of New York v. Utica City School District, 15-cv-01364, that the practice violates state and federal laws that guarantee students equal access to an education. “The district funneled these immigrant students into alternative programs that were effectively roads to nowhere,” Schneiderman said in a news release.
