SHSAT Sunset

Tag: assembly

  • A10731: We have a new bill!

    This new bill calls for the repeal of the Hecht-Calandra Act.

    At present, there are nine specialized high schools in New York City, one of which – Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts – focuses on the arts. The other eight schools are The Bronx High School of Science, The Brooklyn Latin School, Brooklyn Technical High School, High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at the City College of New York, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Staten Island Technical High School, and Stuyvesant High School.

    Section 2590-h of the Education Law requires that admission to the specialized high schools, other than LaGuardia High School, be based on the results of a competitive, objective and scholastic achievement test. This test is known as the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT).

    Section one of the bill sets out legislative findings of stark racial disparities in the New York City specialized high schools, which since the enactment of Hecht-Calandra Act of 1971 mandated admission be based solely on a single score obtained on a standardized test known as the specialized high school admission test (SHSAT), a test which is in use in no other school district in the country.

    Section two of this bill would amend section 2590-h of the Education Law to provide an amended recitation of the specialized high schools, and the City of New York’s authority to create additional such highs schools at the discretion of the Chancellor, leaving the establishment of admissions criteria to the local school district.

    Section three would make the same amendment as the amendment made by section one of this bill, as described above. Section two would take effect when section 2590-h of the Education Law, as amended by chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, expires and reverts to section 2590-h of the Education Law, as amended by chapter 720 of the laws of 2006.

    Section four would provide that this bill takes effect on January 1, 2022.

    https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A10731&term=2019&Summary=Y&Text=Y

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Aravella Simotas

    Name: Aravella Simotas
    Assembly Link: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Aravella-Simotas
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Aravella_Simotas
    Phone: 718-545-3889

    Aravella Simotas Assembly District 36 New York City

    Although frequently virtue-signaling in public, Assemblymember Simotas has been a firm supporter of keeping the SHSAT high-stakes exam as the sole admissions criteria in NYC public specialized high schools.

    Media:

    From: “Aravella Simotas” <[email protected]>
    Date: June 27, 2019 at 12:19:40 PM EDT
    To: [Redacted]
    Subject: RE: Please OPPOSE A2173 on NYC Specialized High School Admissions

    Dear [Redacted]:
    Thank you for your letter concerning the Specialized High School Admissions Test. I am always glad to receive feedback from my constituents.

    As the mother of a young child and a product of the public school system, I share your commitment to supporting our public schools. While it is important to work towards increasing diversity in New York City’s specialized high schools, I agree that eliminating the entrance exam is not the right way to achieve this goal.

    Having one standardized admissions test for our specialized high schools ensures that all students are judged based on the same objective measure and considered solely on merit. Introducing subjective criteria into the admissions process could have unintended consequences and lead to a less rigorous curriculum in these schools, which would ultimately do a disservice to high-achieving students of all backgrounds. Furthermore, this proposal would deprive students in private and parochial schools of the opportunity to compete for admission on an equal playing field to their peers in public schools. To address racial and economic disparities in high school admissions without compromising high academic standards, we should work to expand access to quality educational opportunities and test preparation services for students in disadvantaged communities. In the Assembly, I will continue to fight to ensure every student has the chance to thrive and reach their full potential.

    I appreciate you taking the time to write to me. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

    Sincerely,
    Aravella Simotas
    New York State Assemblymember
    36th District – Queens

    In the above letter, Assemblymember Simotas goes through the greatest hits of incorrect assumptions regarding the SHSAT exam.

    The SHSAT is objective only if you do not consider that it tests above grade material. Parents pay thousands of dollars a year to get their children tutoring above what’s taught at school. This ensures that the SHSAT is biased toward wealth or at least the willingness to invest thousands into it.

    Assemblymember Simotas continues to claim that ANY admissions criteria outside this single high-stakes exam would be subjective. I guess every college, including every Ivory league has been doing it wrong.

    Assemblymember Simotas suggests there are better ways of increasing diversity at our specialized high schools. Yet she never proposes or passes any bills toward this. Keep in mind that NYC already spends about $20M/year on this single exam!

    Simotas’ is a common NY democrat strategy when supporting conservative agendas. Simply vaguely claiming that there’s a better way. Sadly, they’ve been using this redirect since the 1970s.

  • Elite High-School Debate Simmers as Albany Session Winds Down

    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.”


    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.

    Heastie Quotes on the SHSAT

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/elite-high-school-debate-simmers-as-albany-session-winds-down-11560383381

  • Dr. Jon Taylor Testifies at NYS Assembly Hearing on the SHSAT

    Dr. Jonathan Taylor’s testimony, without the following question and answer with elected officials.

    The entire seven hour hearing can be found here…

    5-10-19 Public Hearing on Specialized High Schools

  • Chancellor Carranza Testifies at NYS Assembly Hearing on the SHSAT

    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…

    5-10-19 Public Hearing on Specialized High Schools

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Latrice Walker

    Name: Latrice Walker
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Latrice_Walker
    Assembly: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Latrice-Walker
    Phone: 718-342-1256

    Assemblymember Latrice Walker advocates for keeping the SHSAT exam as the sole admission’s criteria in New York City specialized high schools.

    Even as Assemblymember Walker’s district compromises many students who have shown their academic merit but will never have a chance to attend a public specialized high school, her position is not unexpected. Assemblymember Walker is an alumnus of a specialized high school. And alumni mostly support continuing the misguided tradition of using a single bubble test as the sole measure of students’ academic ability.

    Media: https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/opinion/keep-shsat-give-black-and-latino-students-fair-chance-passing.html

    Assemblymember Walker’s opinion brings absolutely nothing new to the debate.

    Blaming the lack of gifted and talented programs is misguided at best. G&T programs increase segregation, they do no decrease it. We’ve seen this before in New York City.

    Assemblymember Walker believes the solution to the results as an invalid high-stakes test, is to put FOUR year-olds through more high stakes tests and tracking. These kids are barely out of diapers.

    Controversy

    Here’s how Assemblymember Walker feels about scholarships to minority students…

    The Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators did not give out a single scholarship in 2018 — despite typically taking in over $500,000 in annual revenue.

    […]

    The association’s president, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, a Democrat from Brooklyn, did not return a call for comment on Sunday. The second-ranking member of the group, state Sen. Leroy Comrie, a Democrat from Queens, said he had nothing to say about the subject and hung up on a Times Union reporter.


    The group’s website is no longer working. The “premium” package for this year’s event starting Feb. 15 at the Hilton Albany goes for $445, with tickets for individual events going for around $30, according to a registration form on Eventbrite. In 2017, tickets were $175.

    https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Minority-legislators-fundraiser-fails-to-fund-13498734.php

    Both she and Senator Leroy Comrie are strong supporters of the SHSAT exam as the sole admissions criteria of specialized high schools.

  • 5-10-19 Public Hearing on Specialized High Schools

    The NY State Assembly had its first hearing on SHSAT exam.

    The hearing brought together activists, scientists, politicians and city hall employees all to discuss Hecht-Calandra and the exam it authorized.

    Follow the link below for the over 7 hours of testimony.
    https://nystateassembly.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=5117

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: William Colton

    Name: William Colton
    Assembly Link: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/William-Colton/
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/William_Colton
    Phone: 718-236-1598

    Assembly-member William Colton is a proponent of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools.

    Media:

    Assembly-member Colton conveniently leaves out the fact that NYC’s gifted & talented programs actually increase segregation. Parents from across the city opportunity hoard these competitive seats and we have a replay of the SHSAT issue but with 5 year-olds.

    To diversify schools, reimagine Gifted & Talented: A bill to expand segregated programs moves in exactly the wrong direction

    Besides the Gifted and Talented admissions process issues. Gifted and Talented programs also remove many of the highest performing students in every classroom. This has a dampening effect on most students left behind. In-class student ability grouping is much more effective and has less negative side-effects. E.g. Differentiated Instruction strategies.

    Senator Colton calling on SHSAT supporters to rally before a planned Senate “hearing”.

    Mr. Colton rallying anti-reform protests by invoking Dr. Martin Luther King. You can’t make this stuff up…

    According to a seating NY Assemblyman, using multiple-measures for a public high-school’s admission process is a kin to “destroying the future of our children”.

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Yuh-Line Niou

    Name: Yuh-Line Niou
    Assembly Link: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Yuh-Line-Niou
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Yuh-Line_Niou
    Phone: 212-312-1420

    Assembly-member Yuh-Line Niou is a proponent of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools.

    Although her website claims to be against standardized testing, this is false. Speaker Heastie reported that assembly-member Niou was one of the key assembly-members to lobby against allowing the 2018 SHSAT bill on the floor for a vote.

    In blocking this vote, assembly-member Niou blocked a proposal that would fix a historic under-representation of girls in our top STEM high schools. Since the blocked proposal would increase girls at specialized high schools from 44% to 67%.

    Media: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-carl-heastie-school-desegregation-20180607-story.html

    Response to 2018 SHSAT Results

    After complaining that she did not have time to discuss the mayor’s 2018 SHSAT proposal, Assembly-member Niou ignored the subject for the entire year.

    The internet was abuzz with discussion after it was shown that only 7 Black students were given offers to Stuyvesant high school due to the SHSAT exam. Assembly-member Niou had absolutely no response to the result.

    I asked but got no response either.

    She did have time to post Baby shark though.

  • My journey shows why specialized high school admissions must change

    With a sense of tragic déjà vu, reactionary forces are once again pushing back against any proposed integration of prestigious, but largely segregated, schools. This development is so predictable that it would be comical – were it not for the terrible consequences. Already, several irate New Yorkers have called my district office to voice their displeasure with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans to diversify New York City’s elite specialized high schools. Many of these phone calls possess the same overt racial animus of years past, with arguments that had served the same purpose then: to maintain the broken status quo.

    For a young black or Latino middle schooler living in Flatbush in the 1980s, the thought of going to one of the crown jewels of New York’s public schools seemed unimaginable. Even though I was ranked third at my middle school and enrolled in a gifted program, I did not for a moment consider taking the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test in order to apply to Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, or Brooklyn Tech. Left to my own young devices, I determined the SHSAT would be too difficult and too culturally biased for me to perform well on it. Instead, I opted to apply to the fourth specialized high school, LaGuardia. Although the school was the most competitive school of its kind, I based my decision in part on LaGuardia’s different application process, which entails a performance audition and tends to attract more culturally diverse applicants.

    https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/opinion/my-journey-shows-why-specialized-high-school-admissions-must-change.html