Boston Latin is "patently unfair," Willie saidbecause it only accepts 20 percent black andHispanic students in a district that has over 70percent black and Hispanic students.

Willie said he thinks the admissions policyalready adheres to the criteria of theBakke decision.

"The system already has used a variety ofindicators, such as test scores, grades and race,"Willie said. "If race cannot be used the way it isused now, test scores should be eliminated."

No matter what experts said, school officialsclaimed statistics show their numbers ofminorities will decrease.

Of the students admitted to the seventh gradeof Boston Latin this year, 20 percent were blackor Hispanic. Last year, the percentage had slippedto 18.

"We expect numbers [of minorities] to drop[without the current system that takes race intoaccount]," said Tracey M. Lynch, spokesperson forthe Boston Public Schools.

Lynch said without the current policy only 13percent of the students this year would have beenblack or Hispanic and nine percent last year