Black and Latino students make up 9% of
NYC specialized high school admission offers
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
The number of Black and
Latino students offered admission
into one of New York
City’s eight specialized high
schools dropped from 11 to 9
percent this year compared to
last year’s numbers, Department
of Education data shows.
This year, about 23,500
eighth grade students took
the Specialized High Schools
Admission Test, which is normally
administered in October
and November. Department
offi cials reported Thursday
fewer students took the highstakes
entrance exam last fall
compared to years stating the
decline could be related to a
pandemic-related drop in public
school enrollment by 43,000
students.
It is unclear how many
students did not sit for the
exam due to lack of access to
the exam caused by the pandemic.
Out of the students that
sat for the test, a total of 4,262
were offered a spot in a specialized
high school based on
their exam scores this week
with 383 went to Black and Latino
students. Last year, a total
of 4,265 offers were made to
incoming ninth-graders with
about 470 made to Black and
Latino students.
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Schools Chancellor Meisha
Ross Porter called on Albany
to repeal a state law, called the
Hecht-Calandra Act, which requires
admission to the high
schools to be based on a single
exam.
“I know from my 21 years
as an educator that far more
students could thrive in our
Specialized High Schools,
if only given the chance. Instead,
the continued use of
the Specialized High School
Admissions Test will produce
the same unacceptable
results over and over again,
and it’s far past the time for
our students to be fairly represented
in these schools,”
said Porter. “The State law
that requires the City to administer
the exam must be
repealed so we can partner
with our communities to fi nd
a more equitable way forward,
and do right by all of
our children.”
Out of the 749 students offered
a spot at Stuyvesant High
School next year, only 8 were
Black and 20 were Latino, according
to DOE data. Offi cials
say 20% of seats at each of
eight testing specialized high
schools will be reserved for a
student from a Discovery program,
a program for students
who score below the SHSAT
cutoff score claiming the
number of Discovery program
seats has risen from 250 seats
in 2018 to 800 seats this year.
Exterior of Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan on Feb. 8, 2018. Photo by Charles Eckert
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