LDF Defends Lower Court Victory Over "Insider" New York City Principals' Examination

Press Release
February 14, 1972

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LDF Defends Lower Court Victory Over "Insider" New York City Principals' Examination preview

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Press Releases, Volume 6. LDF Defends Lower Court Victory Over "Insider" New York City Principals' Examination, 1972. e80350c5-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/f2ec475f-596b-4c8a-90aa-fc678327ea36/ldf-defends-lower-court-victory-over-insider-new-york-city-principals-examination. Accessed April 22, 2025.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEBRUARY 14, 1972

LDF DEFENDS LOWER COURT

VICTORY OVER "INSIDER" NEW YORK

CITY PRINCIPALS' EXAMINATION

NEW YORK, N.Y. --- On February 15, 1972, the Legal

Defense Fund (LDF) will defend a lower court decision which stopped

the giving of discriminatory civil service examinations for New York

City School principals. LDF Attorney Elizabeth DuBois will argue,

that the decision must be upheld to permit the institution of an

examination system which would permit selection based on merit and

fitness for these key roles in urban education.

LDF filed a reply brief on February 9, 1972, to answer

charges made by the Board of Examiners, which administers the exams,

that the injunction would create a spoils system. The brief argued

that the present system rewards and favors those within the system

at the expense of those who have traditionally been locked out.

The brief, written on behalf of Boston Chance, a black, and

Louis Mercado, a Puerto Rican, notes that Black and Puerto Rican

children would have the most to lose from a system based on anything

other than merit and fitness.

On July 14, 1971, District Judge Walter Mansfield found

that the Examiners' tests "aimed at testing the candidate's ability

to memorize rather than the qualities normally associated with a

school administrator." As a result of these tests, New York had

the lowest percentage of minority principals (1.4%) among the five

(more)

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586

illiam T. Coleman, Jr. - President fe’ Rivoates gh

N.Y. CITY PRINCIPALS' EXAMINATION PAGE 2

largest cities in the United States. The next lowest, Chicago,

had five times as many minority principals. The New York City

Board of Education has refused to defend the examination system,

and did not appeal the lower court decision. Chancellor Harvey

Scribner called the system "unworkable."

The case will be heard before the Second Circuit Court of

Appeals.

For further information contact: Attorney Elizabeth B. DuBois

or Abeke Foster, Public Information

(212) 586-8397

NOTE: Please bear in mind that the LDF is a completely separate

and distinct organization even though we were established by the

NAACP and those initials are retained in our name. Our correct

designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.,

frequently shortened to LDF.

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LDF Defends Lower Court Victory Over "Insider" New York City Principals' Examination

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