David Garcia-Rosen, Administrative Director

Drosen4@schools.nyc.gov
845-553-5626(C), 718-665-4128 X4211(O), 718-292-1372(F)
345 Brook Avenue Room 421
Bronx, NY 10454


WWW.SSALSPORTS.ORG
5/ 28/ 14
Dear US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights,
I am writing to complain that the New York City Department of Education is in violation of Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the way they allocate funds for high school sports. The NYC DOEs
Public School Athletic League is one of the most separate and unequal high school sports systems in the
country. Unlike the Arts and Advanced Placement courses, it is a 100% centrally funded program that is
intentionally distributing money in a way that denies students of color equal access to high school
sports.
My extensive research illustrates that the Public School Athletic League (PSAL), a NYC DOE program,
allocated their 23 million dollar budget in Fiscal Year 2014 in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964. This is a continuation of a pattern of violations dating back to at least FY 2005 and will continue
in FY 2015.
The NYC DOE funds high school sports through the Public School Athletic Leagues 23 million dollar
annual budget. Through a non-transparent and non-competitive team granting process, some high
schools get as many as 44 DOE funded teams, while others get nothing. This means that some public
high schools have a $250,000 NYC DOE funded world class sports program, while others get denied
funding for even one team.
Schools with nearly 100% students of color receive the least funding for high school sports, while those
with the largest white populations receive the most. For example, at the 176 high schools with less than
6 DOE funded PSAL teams, the percentage of students of color is 93%. At the 4 high schools with more
than 36 DOE funded PSAL teams, the percentage of students of color is 60%. At the 12 high schools with
more than 30 teams, the percentage of students of color is 70%. No matter how large or small you draw
a geographic circle in New York City, the percentage of white students is the key variable that indicates
how many sports teams are funded by the DOE.
In FY 2014, the DOE claimed they had no money to centrally support the Small Schools Athletic
Leagues 90 teams which are composed of schools that are 94% students of color and 20% English
Language Learners. However, they did have enough money to give the 50 high schools with the lowest
percentages of students of color (60%), 84 new DOE funded PSAL teams. These schools already had an
average of 16 DOE funded teams, including 17 high schools that already had more than 20 DOE funded
PSAL teams. In fact, the 50 high schools with the least students of color got the same amount of total
teams as the 277 high schools with most students of color combined. In FY 2014, the 50 high schools
with the largest percentages of students of color (99.6%) only got 22 additional teams. These schools had
an average of 4 DOE funded PSAL teams, with only 3 having more than 20 teams. Not one team was
granted to a high school with 100% students of color.
When they gave out Table Tennis and Badminton funding in FY 2014, it was given to the schools who
already had the most funding and by and large had the largest white populations. 78% of the Table
Tennis and Badminton funding went to the 77 high schools with the lowest percentages of students of




David Garcia-Rosen, Administrative Director
Drosen4@schools.nyc.gov
845-553-5626(C), 718-665-4128 X4211(O), 718-292-1372(F)
345 Brook Avenue Room 421
Bronx, NY 10454


WWW.SSALSPORTS.ORG
color. 21 out of the 24 table tennis teams went to high schools that already had more than 20 DOE
funded PSAL teams.
For some reason the DOE leadership thought it was more import ant for Tottenville High School (81%
white) to add Table Tennis and Badminton to their portfolio of 44 teams, then for schools all over the
other boroughs to get their first team. When I asked CEO Eric Goldstein last week about Table Tennis
and Badminton team granting he said, sometimes you just have to get something off the ground.
I alerted Deputy Chancellor Grimm and CEO Eric Goldstein to this problem in January 2013, but they
ignored my research and continued to violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in FY 2014. They
continued to give out money to the schools with the highest percentages of white students, leaving the
most segregated schools with nothing once again. In May of 2013, CEO Eric Goldstein met with us and
refused to acknowledge that there was any problem.
We have proposed to them 25 points of agreement under which we would be willing to work with them
to bring about the systematic changes needed to bring equitable access. However , they have not worked
with us in good faith and at our last scheduled meeting with CEO Eric Goldstein he failed to show up.
Next year, once again NYC public high schools with the most white students will have access to world
class DOE funded sports programs, while the most segregated schools will receive little to nothing.
This inequity is very unique in that public high school sports in New York City is 100% centrally
funded. Advanced Placement courses and the Arts are also absent from our most segregated schools,
but those programs are not centrally funded. The NYC DOE Public School Athletic League is centrally
funded and is intentionally distributing their funding in a way that is denying students of color equal
access to high school sports.
It does not have to be this way. If the 23 million dollars allocated for NYC DOE high school sports was
distributed equitably, all NYC DOE high school students could have access to sports. Unfortunately, in
FY 2014, the leadership of the PSAL thought it was more important for Tottenville High School to add
Table Tennis and Badminton to its portfolio of 44 teams, than for a school in the Bronx to get their very
first team.
We have three years worth of research and data. We look forward to the opportunity to give a full
presentation as to why this is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Please find attached
the 25 points of agreement we offered the DOE to provide joint leadership in solving this problem.
Sincerely,

David Garcia-Rosen