Yet for years, neither the mayor nor the Legislature — nor anyone in Hunter College leadership — has taken the necessary action to overhaul a system that bases admissions to the most coveted schools on just a test, the SHSAT or the Hunter test. There’s not a single elite college in America that bases its admissions only on SAT or ACT scores, yet New York City’s best high schools make a single, homegrown exam make or break for thousands of students, despite results that worsen segregation.
Now we are faced with an even greater educational crisis: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequities within the school and health-care systems. School leaders across the country have suspended their 2021 admissions tests to mitigate the disparate effects of the pandemic. We are calling on New York City’s leaders to uphold both equity and safety by suspending the SHSAT and Hunter admissions test for 2021.