Both voc-tech and exam schools should have lottery admissions

Let’s compare and contrast two Globe editorials on public school admissions — one from last week about the state’s voctech schools (“Mass. needs more voc-tech schools — and a fairer way for students to get into them,” Feb. 8) and one from 2021 about Boston Public Schools’ exam school admissions debate. For almost every sentence of last week’s editorial, one could substitute “vocational schools” with “exam schools.” Both lament public schools that cherry-pick their students, resulting in admissions of greater proportions of white students and economically advantaged students than their applicants. Both call for expanding access to these public schools in high demand by creating more of them so that, as the exam school editorial put it, “all have a chance to maximize their potential.” Both argue for reform to inequitable admissions policies.

That’s where the parallels end. Last week’s editorial, rightly so, has a tone of outrage and suggests a lottery as the obvious way of “doing the right thing.” The exam school one gingerly suggests a more incremental approach, in which it’s OK for exam schools to cherry-pick the top 20 percent and keep an exam rather than to use a lottery, which “would make admission feel beyond the control of the individual student.”

Both types of schools should have equitable, lottery-based admissions for any students who desire the type of education they offer. Neither should use admissions tests. Research shows that how students perform on standardized tests better reflects their parents’ income and education levels than their academic aptitude. If some admitted students need support to tackle the curriculum, the school should provide resources such as summer boot camps, academic advisers, and affinity study groups.

Why does the Globe think students from historically marginalized groups deserve an equal shot at vocational schools but not at exam schools?

ROSANN TUNG Boston