When the U.S. Supreme Court recently restricted the use of racial quotas in public school admissions, Nikita Rau's family rejoiced.
The Brooklyn sixth-grader, who is of Indian heritage, had been rejected from an elite school in Coney Island because of such quotas.
In light of the Supreme Court decision last month, the Raus were hopeful that the city Education Department will quickly reverse Nikita's case.
"It was very encouraging," said her father, Dr. Anjan Rau, a vascular surgeon.
City education officials said they are now reviewing the city's two race-based admissions programs, but the Rau family is running out of patience - and time.
"If they don't make a decision soon, we'll go to court and compel them to take action," said lawyer Joseph Tacopina, adding that the legal battle could come in as little as two weeks.
Nikita, 11, has been denied a place at Mark Twain Intermediate School although she outscored some of her white counterparts on the admissions test.
Mark Twain is one of only two city public schools that admits students according to court-ordered racial quotas. The other is Louis Armstrong School in Queens.
A 1974 federal court ruling calls for Mark Twain's student population to be 60% white and 40% students of color. But as the demographics of the area have shifted, critics say the requirement has given whites an unfair advantage.
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Brooklyn, S.I.) is among those who have challenged the policy. "We send the wrong message when we tell students they cannot attend the school of their choice because they are the wrong color or ethnicity," he said.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has also come out against the racial quota rule, calling it "anachronistic."
Nikita does have options, however. She has been accepted into the prestigious Bay Academy for the Arts and Sciences in Sheepshead Bay and may enroll there in the fall, her parents said.
tsamuels@nydailynews.com
