Vocational technical schools in Massachusetts have long been allowed to maintain more selective admissions policies than just about any other public schools in the state — which, advocates say, perpetuates stark discrimination and sends few graduates actually on a paths to trade professions.

“I was excited about getting to participate in a hands on an interactive education,” Chelsea High student Jose Castellan remembered at a hearing on bill related to vocational schools admissions last Monday.

Castellan applied to Northeast Metropolitan Vocational Technical School in Chelsea but, like many students in his area, was denied.

“I have learned that not just my local vocational school, but almost all public vocational schools in the state rank kids for admission based on factors have been proven to be discriminatory,” Castellan said. “Why is it that our futures are decided on middle school grades, discipline records, attendance and recommendations from people that may not even know us, instead of judging us on our full potential, hard work and determination?”

For the last couple decades, the vocational schools were granted an special exemption by the state education department allowing them to implement selective admissions policies. There’s a push now on Beacon Hill to change that.

Under these policies, the 28 specialized schools may rank students based on criteria including their grades, recommendations and disciplinary record. In 2021, DESE changed the policies prohibiting schools from considering minor disciplinary infractions or excused absences.

Admission to the schools has been tight in recent years, with about 8,000 of the total 18,000 2021-22 school year applications denied.

Opponents of these controversial admissions policies have long called for a return to lottery admissions to the schools, which they argue would be fairer.

This year, Massachusetts Action for Justice Director Lewis Finfer and opponents organized with the Vocational Education Justice Coalition are taking a three-pronged swing at the policies — filing a complaints with the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, supporting proposed state legislation to reinstate lottery admissions at the schools and appealing to Governor Maura Healey and the education department directly.

According to the most recent data reported from DESE, vocational schools on average admit 55% of students of color vs. 69% white students, 44% English language learners vs. 64% native English speakers, 54% of low-income students vs. 72% non-low income, and 54% of students with disabilities vs. 65% without.

Advocates also argue the stricter academic admissions policies mean more of the students go to four-year colleges after graduating rather than the trades the vocational schools train them for, which they argue does not efficiently fulfill the intended purpose of the schools and robs the workforce of those industries.

Tom Fischer, executive director of the North Atlantic States Carpenters Training Fund, said his union is at an “all time low” in terms of admission.

“For 37 years, I’ve seen the numbers dwindle to the point we’re at now,” said Fischer. “Our apprentices in Massachusetts number 1,200 right now, and10% of those have actually come from vocational schools, which is very unusual.”

“We want more kids to go to college, but probably they would have gone to college anyway,” said Finfer. “But they got that training, which they really never used. And another kid who maybe didn’t have as good grades or a disciplinary record, if they got that training they would have become a carpenter. Which helps make a difference, helps a kid find a decent path.”