I was the valedictorian of my eighth-grade class and earned a special honor for never missing a day of school, but that wasn’t enough to help me, or others like me, gain admission into schools like American Studies. Instead, a single specialty test was used to gauge my intelligence, work ethic and worthiness.

The mayor’s proposal to admit students based on a more equitable policy has been met with vehement opposition from people with false presumptions about students like me. Many assume that low-income students of color like me are just “too lazy” to prepare for the exam, and that kids who do better on the SHSAT prove they “deserve” to get in.

Replacing the SHSAT with a more balanced approach is about taking a holistic approach that factors in academic excellence, motivation and grit throughout a student’s entire middle school career. To me, that’s better than relying on a single test, any day of the week.

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-stop-relying-on-just-one-test-20181204-story.html