Supreme Court backs New Haven Firefighters

[Munchkin03]

I'm confused as to how this made it all the way to the Supreme Court. It seems pretty cut and dried to me in that the test results should not have been thrown out. Am I missing something? I am definitely not a Sotomayor fan, but I don't think that has colored my viewpoint on this.

Was the content like the professional exams, where they're based on things you were taught in school and learned on the job? Or are they more like the HS standardized exams? I know there's an alleged class/race bias on those tests, but I know that there aren't any in the other professional exams.

I couldn't find this in any article, but was the content determined to be biased against the minority candidates? Was the testing information widely available for review and practice?

I mean, I have exams I have to take and pass in order to become registered. If I fail one, just because I'm black doesn't mean that they should throw out the test results for everyone.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I'm confused as to how this made it all the way to the Supreme Court. It seems pretty cut and dried to me in that the test results should not have been thrown out. Am I missing something? I am definitely not a Sotomayor fan, but I don't think that has colored my viewpoint on this.

Was the content like the professional exams, where they're based on things you were taught in school and learned on the job? Or are they more like the HS standardized exams? I know there's an alleged class/race bias on those tests, but I know that there aren't any in the other professional exams.

I couldn't find this in any article, but was the content determined to be biased against the minority candidates? Was the testing information widely available for review and practice?

I mean, I have exams I have to take and pass in order to become registered. If I fail one, just because I'm black doesn't mean that they should throw out the test results for everyone.

Thank you!

The fact that this made it to the Supreme Court amazes me.

Whether the test was analyzed for racial biases or not, how can a FIREFIGHTING TEST be geared toward whites? It makes me extremely mad to think that New Haven might have thought, "Well, only white people passed. That's not fair. And we don't want to get sued." I'm sorry, but if any of the people who didn't pass the test had sued, that case probably never would have seen the inside of a courtroom. At least it shouldn't have, because there would have been absolutely no justification for it.

I don't know about anyone here, but when people show up to my house to rescue me from a possible fiery death, I want people who know what they're doing. I don't care if they're white, black, blue, green or purple. If you're educated and trained enough to save my life, then come get me. But if you can't pass the firefighting test, go study more.

New Haven actually decided that promotions, that were apparently necessary in the FIRE DEPARTMENT, could be put on hold because only whites passed. That's sad.