Judgement
Public Court Documents
December 16, 1997

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Press Releases, Volume 6. Chance v. Board of Examiners, 1971. 4b88bfa0-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/61056535-8ae1-4748-9e5d-9a17e2d143fe/chance-v-board-of-examiners. Accessed August 27, 2025.
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PressRelease B Sime ae Se FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 14, 1971 CHANCE v. BOARD OF EXAMINERS NEW YORK, N. Y. --- On July 14 the Federal District Court, Southern District, New York issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Board of Examiners from conducting any further examinations for supervisory positions in the New York City School System. The judge also prohibited the Board from issuing licenses on the basis of such supervisory examinations. This injunction resulted from a lawsuit brought by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on behalf of black and Puerto Rican applicants for supervisory positions. The Legal Defense Fund claimed: (1) that the Board's exams discriminated against blacks and Puerto Ricans and (2) that the exams were not "job-related" -- that is, that they failed to select the best applicants for the positions tested for. In a 56-page opinion, Judge Mansfield upheld the Legal Defense Fund's claims. He found specifically that: (1) The exams conducted by the Board of Examiners over the past 7 years have had a significant discriminatory effect upon black and Puerto Rican applicants. (23 The Board of Examiners has the burden of showing that their exams are justified as necessary to select supervisors, and it has failed to sustain this burden. Indeed the Court found that the Board has not succeeded in developing job-related exams. = This decision constitutes a significant breakthrough in the struggle to improve the quality of education in the City of (More) ACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 ilNliam T. Coleman, Jr. - President Sos bake: Jack Greenberg - Director-Counsel CHANCE v. BOARD OF EXAMINERS PAGE TWO New York,not only for blacks and Puerto Ricans, but for all students. It has long been recognized that the exam system administered by the Board of Examiners has acted to perpetuate a sterile, bureaucratic system and to keep out many of the most qualified and imaginative applicants, both black and white, from positions in the New York City School System.