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.