Name: Eric Adams
Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Eric_Adams_(New_York)
Phone: 718-802-3700
Brooklyn President Eric Adams now advocates for keeping the SHSAT exam as the sole admission’s criteria in New York City specialized high schools.
Mr. Eric Adams is running for mayor in 2021 and is currently funding raising for this purpose.
At first, Mr. Adams was AGAINST the SHSAT high-stakes test for many years. And he participated in the NYC mayor’s SHSAT reform press launch.
Media:
Also, consider Adams’ about-face regarding the Specialized High School Admissions Test, or SHSAT. In June 2017, Adams and Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. announced that their task force on gifted and talented education recommended that “a single test not be the only source of admission” to the city’s coveted high schools because it had resulted in very low percentages of blacks and Latinos at the schools.
In June, Adams similarly backed de Blasio’s push for changes, saying, “We must replace the admissions model that has SHSAT scores as its sole admissions criterion.”
Two weeks later, though, the New York Post reported that Adams had changed his position “after Chinese-American donors pulled out of upcoming fundraisers.” Though Adams denied that, writing in a New York Amsterdam News op-ed that “the voices of concerned parents and educators … have moved me, not financial considerations as baseless tabloid rumors suggested.” His reversal smacked of politics, not principle.
“Eric Adams has faced less scrutiny than he deserves” CityAndState
The media continued with reports on “changes” to Mr. Adam’s fundraising efforts…
Media: https://nypost.com/2018/06/18/brooklyn-president-turns-on-school-testing-plan-after-donor-backlash/
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams quietly reversed his support for eliminating the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test after Chinese-American donors pulled out of upcoming fundraisers, The Post has learned.
Two sources told The Post that a June 21 fundraiser planned with Chinese hotel workers in Manhattan was canceled, while other donors from the Chinese community had begun backing out of a separate event.
Adams has been fundraising hard this year for an expected mayoral run in 2021.“Brooklyn president turns on school testing plan after donor backlash” NyPost
“Nothing [moves] faster than when it hits your wallet,” a leader in the Brooklyn Chinese community said of Adams’ change of heart.
The Brooklyn BP was among the first public officials to back Mayor Bill de Blasio’s bid to eliminate the entrance exams, which for years have yielded relatively few black and Hispanic students at the city’s top eight public high schools.
It’s very disappointing to see this about-face happen even as the evidence clearly shows NY state should not use a single 114 multiple-choice test as the SOLE measure of a child’s academic ability.
I can only hope that NYC voters will reject Mr. Adams and his disappointing position on education equity.