Covid pandemic or not, NYC holds the SHSAT exam.
“It seems incredibly unfair to put families in the position where they, again, any family who chose remote learning, now has to choose whether it is worth jeopardizing the safety and health and well-being of people in their household to send their student, their children, in to take this test,”
The new effort, spearheaded by the advocacy group Teens Take Charge, comes on the heels of sweeping protests against racial injustice that advocates hope will shine new light on segregation in city schools.
“The recent protests really did show all of us racism is a really big issue and that we need to do better in improving integration in this city,” said William Diep, a 16-year-old Teens Take Charge member, and senior at Brooklyn Latin, one of the city’s specialized schools.
The students have been studying with instructors from Khan’s Tutorial. The 11 month course normally costs around $2,500. But these classes, for students from low-income homes, are free—thanks to a program called DREAMChasers. It was created by attorney and Bronx Science alum Jason Clark after visiting his old school and noticing the lack of diversity.
Confirms Kahn Tutorial’s 2019 prices
The SHSAT is “supposed” to be fair, but here students and parents alike are gushing about a $2,500 program.
And sadly very few of Kahn’s Tutorial students will get offers to specialized high schools after spending that much money.
They got some relief Wednesday when Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat who attended Brooklyn Technical High School, told reporters he isn’t considering a deal to pass that bill in return for other changes, such as boosting gifted programs.
“I think we should be looking to enrich our junior high-school students as we try to put them on the path to whether it’s a specialized high school or not,” Mr. Heastie said after meeting with New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza. “We need to look at the system in totality, so I didn’t agree to any trades.”Heastie Quotes on the SHSAT
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, a Bronx Democrat who chairs the Assembly education committee, said Wednesday night more than 50 fellow Democrats in his chamber debated the bill on ending the test in a closed-door evening conference, and it wasn’t clear what would happen next. “I don’t think it should be the role of the legislature to dictate to a particular school district how they determine admission to their own high schools,” he said in an interview.
Dr. Jonathan Taylor’s testimony, without the following question and answer with elected officials.
The entire seven hour hearing can be found here…
Here’s the Chancellor’s initial testimony, without the following question and answer with elected officials.
The entire seven hour hearing can be found here…
City council members on Wednesday grilled education department officials on school segregation at a joint hearing of the Education Committee and Civil and Human Rights Committee.
The sharp questions and answer session took place just weeks before the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.
The atmosphere was a stark departure from just five years ago, when council members questioned education department officials about diversity issues in a school system that remains among the most segregated in the country. Back then, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his previous schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, steadfastly refused to even mention the words “integration” or “segregation.”
Battle lines remained hardened around the what to do about the lack of diversity in the specialized high schools, a debate that overshadowed much of the hearing. Some council members tried to strike a delicate balance between the need for reforms and listening to the concerns of the Asian community, whose children make up a majority of the schools’ students.
Recent polling shows that most New Yorkers want to overhaul the single-test admissions system currently enshrined in state law. But before the hearing, a group of largely Asian-American advocates protested a city proposal to overhaul admissions.
One Asian-American student testified that her community shouldn’t be painted with a single brush and that she supported integration efforts.
“Integrating our schools will reduce racial bias and counter stereotypes,” said Bonnie Tang, who attended city public schools and is now in college.
Carranza touched on the undertones of the frequent argument that changing the admissions method would dampen academic quality.
“I will call that racist every time I hear it,” he said. “If you don’t want me to call you on it, don’t say it.”
Manhattan Councilwoman Margaret Chin called for reevaluating the admissions policy but said the city has an obligation to showcase other great high schools and improve lagging schools.
“We have to make sure all our high schools also have specialized programs in there that attract students. They’ll stay in the neighborhood, don’t have to travel acouple hours to go to a high school,” Chin said.
Advocates of the chancellor’s plan say changing the admissions policy for specialized high schools would also help diversify some city neighborhoods because families would want to give their children the best shot at being in the top percent of theireighth grade class.