Minority New Yorkers who failed teaching test to receive $1.8 billion settlement

New York City will pay more than $1.8 billion to roughly 5,200 black and Hispanic aspiring and former teachers after the city decided to stop fighting a nearly three-decade discrimination lawsuit that found the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test used for teacher licensing exam was biased.

The city's largest-ever legal payout is expected to generate hundreds of other large future financial rewards, according to The New York Post. 

At least 225 people who failed the licensing exam from 1994 to 2014 had been notified that they will receive at least $1 million in settlements, according to Manhattan federal court records.

The court had found the exam violated civil-rights laws. More than 90% of white test takers passed the 80-question multiple choice and essay qualification exam from March 1993 through June 1995, but black applicants passed just 53% of the time, while Latino Americans had a 50% passing rate, the lawsuit stated.

The settlement is expected to cost far more for taxpayers in the end, as many of the plaintiffs are expected to be able to collect health insurance and pension checks based on the time they did not work after they reach the age they would have retired from the profession. 

Herman Grim, 64, received the largest payout of more than $2 million. He could not give the Post examples of how the test may have been biased, but he said he could not say how many times he took the certification exam and failed.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.