In February of 2023, a group of community activists filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The complaint alleged that career vocational-technical education (CVTE) schools in Massachusetts were allowed to use admissions criteria that "unjustifiably excludes" students of color, English language learners and students with disabilities. The group, known as the Vocational Education Justice Coalition (VEJC), favors an open lottery system. They note that vocational-technical schools are public schools, funded by taxpayer dollars, and should not be allowed to act like private schools that rank students and then choose preferred applicants. Their position is opposed by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, (MAVA), an organization that represents 63 schools in the commonwealth. MAVA officials agree that any student who "wants access to a vocational technical education should have it." But they say the problem is the lack of space for the thousands of students seeking to enroll, not the admissions policies. In 2021 the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved new regulations aimed at creating more fairness in admissions to vocational-technical schools. MAVA officials say 97 percent of vocational-technical and agricultural high schools made changes to their admissions policies in response to the revised regulations. Student grades, while still emphasized, are not as dominant a factor. Minor disciplinary issues no longer impact student records. Attendance scoring has been revised. More assistance in language translation is being provided and interviewers are being trained to eliminate bias in their evaluation of applicants. The Vocational Education Justice Coalition contends the revised regulations made only "minimal changes" and that DESE "continues to grant CVTE schools substantial discretion over their admission procedures." In its civil rights complaint, the VEJC asks the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to suspend any further federal funding "until DESE prohibits CVTE schools from utilizing discriminatory admissions criteria, and instead creates a more equitable admission process for all students across the board." In February 2024, a bill that would require vocational-technical schools or comprehensive high schools that offer vocational-technical programs to hold a lottery if there are more eligible applicants from a sending community than seats available, advanced to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The measure, Senate Bill 257, would also allow schools to consider attendance and disciplinary histories "for entry to the lottery." This paper looks at a unique situation in Massachusetts education: the outsized demand for access to public career vocational-technical education by those who could most use it, against the use of screening at a time of limited capacity. It draws on interviews with educators, civil rights advocates and elected officials, as well as data generated by state, federal and independent sources on vocational education, enrollment and demographics. References to "voc-ed" as high schools reserved for underachieving kids and trouble makers have become tired tropes. These days the programs are filled with students designing robots, studying artificial intelligence or engaged in traditional CVTE courses such as culinary arts or auto repair. Meanwhile more students are trying to get through the doors. In Massachusetts and elsewhere in the U.S., the challenge of educators and policy makers is to meet that demand.