‘I am going to keep pushing this proposal’
Schools Chancellor Carranza urges state lawmakers to repeal SHSAT law
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
School Chancellor Richard Carranza
publicly pressed state lawmakers
Tuesday night to scrap a
section of education law requiring
the Specialized High School Admissions
Test.
“All I need is for the legislature
to get out of the way, repeal that law
and then hold me accountable for
the quality of those schools, which I
thought I had since I am the chancellor,”
Carranza said during a Tuesday
night town hall meeting at M.S.
113 Richard R. Green in the Bronx.
Last year, the mayor announced
plans to phase out the test and
change admission requirements
for the city’s eight specialized high
schools amid calls for more diversity.
Although black and Latino
students make up 70 percent of the
student body, they make up just over
10 percent of students in specialized
high schools. And those numbers
are at risk of decreasing.
In 2019, Stuyvesant High School
only accepted seven black students
to their incoming class of 895.
The year prior, the school admitted
10 black students, and the year before
that, 13.
Carranza’s opposition to the exam
at the town hall comes as a stark
contrast to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s,
who stated that he was open to the
idea of keeping the SHSAT in September
after a year of protests from
test supporters.
The proposed change would allow
for the top 7 percent of students
at every middle school a chance to
attend a specialized high school.
Each student’s ranking would be
base off of a composite score based
on student grades, state test scores
and attendance compared to other
students in their school. Something
that Carranza said would diversify
the schools overnight.
Assemblyman Charles Barron
sponsored a bill in support of the
mayor’s plan. He told Chalkbeat that
he and other lawmakers will try to
repeal the law and take the state
out of the New York City education
system. Barron’s bill would do away
with the SHSAT failed during last
legislative session.
The yearlong protests came from
School Chancellor Carranza speaks at a town hall.
test supporters, including Asian-
American activist groups and parents
who argue that the admission
change neglects Asian-American
students, and deep-pocketed coalitions
like the Education Equity
Campaign led by Brooklyn Tech
graduate and minister Kirsten John
Foy.
Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
In the end, Carranza remains opposed
to the SHSAT, but is willing to
take recommendations on possible
alternatives.
“So, until I get a better proposal,
I am going to keep pushing this proposal,”
Carranza said.
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