SHSAT Sunset

Tag: city council

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Robert Cornegy

    Name: Robert Cornegy
    Council Link: https://council.nyc.gov/robert-cornegy/
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Robert_Cornegy
    Phone: 718-919-0740

    Robert Cornegy is an NYC City Council member and a candidate for Brooklyn Borough President. He represents city council district 36.

    Mr. Cornegy is also a firm supporter of the SHSAT specialized test as the sole measure of student ability. Even as just about every expert explains that he can’t rely on a single 90 question multiple-choice test as the sole measure of a child’s academic ability.

    Media: Brooklyn Council Member Cornegy Misused Office for Borough President Run, Complaint to Council Charges

    Brooklyn Council Member Cornegy Misused Office for Borough President Run, Complaint to Council Charges
    Employees were asked for campaign work and contributions — both banned under ethics rules — a former staffer alleges. The complaint also contends that Cornegy planned campaign activities with his top aide while on the job.

    https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/2/17/22288694/robert-cornegy-office-complaint

    Media: Robert Cornegy’s endorsements that weren’t

    However, Cornegy’s campaign has inflated its endorsement count: three people who the campaign told City & State endorsed Cornegy have not done so.

    Media:

    Cornegy’s accepting Real Estate lobbying money

    Education Equity Policies

    As for education, and judging from Mr. Cornegy’s interviews, I can only conclude his position stems from a lack of understanding rather than a firm belief of any kind.

    So I’ve taken some stances that I don’t care whether they’re popular or not, they were right. I was one of probably the only Democratic members who voted for an expansion of charters, because charters in my district have provided a pathway for students to do really well, especially on socialization and standardized testing, which I think are two of the pillars for our students to be successful. I’ve also fought diligently to bring back Gifted and Talented programs.

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    I’m a tremendous advocate for not removing the test into our specialized high schools. I’ve been fighting against that. Again, very unpopular at the council, right? For some reason, they see the necessity to do away with something that I think has been a great tool for students to be able to access. So I’m in that fight with you ( PLACENYC). So you have an advocate and an ally on the council in that fight to make sure that we’re not removing.

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    Yeah, I don’t particularly care for that program ( D15 integration plan ) because I think that there are … I remember when we fought to bring the Gifted and Talented programs back.

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    So again, I’m on the Education Committee at the council and have established great relationships. The Borough President’s Office, as I mentioned, has the largest bully pulpit. So everything from sounding the alarm to work with advocates like you on the call for a good solid education policies swings the pendulum, right?

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    One of the things that’s happening is people are listening to advocates around tests and around the specialized high schools more. There was a time when the advocates were trying to just push so hard to to get rid of the test. Me being an African American male and standing up and saying, “No, we don’t want to get rid of the test. Change the whole …” It slowed down the process. The test probably would have been going because the mayor wanted it gone, and the chancellor wanted it gone and these advocates. But there were black people like me, who said, “No, no. We never said we wanted the test to go away, we think there shouldn’t be a measurement tool.” Consequently, the fight still continues and we’re getting momentum. With the larger platform and from the borough president’s office, I can take the momentum that we already have. Like you said, which is the best analogy somebody can get, swinging the pendulum the pendulum back in the right direction.

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    So I’m a top tier candidate, even though I’m not walking in lockstep with some of the wild, crazy ideas around shifting policy and education as it relates to our kids. So I think it’s an excellent opportunity to invest in someone who is like you, who’s been a part of the system, who’s not idealistic, but who’s practical about what we can do to change the system and who’s a hard worker. So I would just ask that you continue to spread the word that there’s somebody out there that’s incredibly interesting in the in the educational space, who’s well steeped in what the needs are, and who stands on his own.

    Robert Cornegy to PLACENYC interviewer

    The full interview can be found on youtube.

  • New City Council Resolutions Push for Overhaul to School Admissions Process

    Repeal of the 1971 Hecht-Calandra Act and transferring control of admissions to New York City’s specialized high schools to the City. The Hecht-Calandra Act made the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test the single metric that can be used to admit students to specialized high schools. By giving control of specialized high school admissions back to New York City, there are opportunities to move beyond the test as a determining factor, which has resulted in a lack of diversity at these schools. The resolution calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.10731/S.8847.

    https://council.nyc.gov/keith-powers/news-alerts-and-events/council-member-keith-powers-proposes-overhaul-to-school-admissions/

  • Video: NYC School Segregation: Rethinking the SHSAT

    65 years after Brown v. Board of Education, segregation in public schools remains a major issue in cities across the country. New York City has one of the most segregated school systems in the country, and some see the controversial Specialized High Schools Admissions Test as part of the problem. At a City Council Oversight Hearing on Segregation in the New York City School System, Students, Parents, Council members, and Department of Education talk education reform.

    https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2019/05/separate-but-still-not-equal/

  • Hecht-Calandra Governor’s Bill Jacket

    Research on the passing of Hecht-Calandra in 1971. This includes supporting documents from various agencies and stakeholders.

    Christa_McAuliffe_Intermediate_v_De_Blasio_et_al__nysdce-18-11657__0048.2

  • NYC Bar: Eliminate Competitive Admissions to NYC Public Elementary & Middle Schools

    Equal access to educational opportunity and racially and economically integrated public schools are central goals of the SDAG and the larger civil-rights community. These goals cannot be achieved unless the New York City Department of Education eliminates competitive admissions to its elementary- and middle-school programs and schools.


    In the elementary-school context, New York City provides separate Gifted & Talented (“G&T”) schools and in-school programs for young children who score above a certain level on what is known as the “G&T test.”[3] The decision to have a child take the G&T test is made by the parents – rather than by educators – often before a child has entered the public school system. Most children do not take the test or cannot obtain a seat in a program even if they are eligible.[4] In the middle-school context, competitive admissions take the form of school-specific criteria limiting admission based on academic “merit” and perceptions of behavior. These assessments are based necessarily on the performance of students in fourth grade when students are eight and nine years old.


    Admission to the City’s official G&T programs in elementary school typically involves testing of children who are four years old. Chancellor Carranza has observed correctly that screening children in this way is “antithetical” to public education.[5] The Department of Education should work with administrators, teachers, Community Education Councils, School Leadership Teams and other groups with parent representation to eliminate screens for admission to elementary and middle schools and programs.[6]


    The City Bar believes competitive admissions to elementary and middle school must be eliminated for the following reasons: 

    https://www.nycbar.org/member-and-career-services/committees/reports-listing/reports/detail/eliminate-competitive-admissions-to-nyc-public-elementary-and-middle-schools

    nycbar-2019521-CompetitiveAdmissionsDOE050119

  • Testimony regarding segregation in New York City public schools

    UFT opposes single measure admissions
    The union is on record criticizing and challenging the validity of a single test as the sole criteria for high stakes decisions – such as entrance to early elementary gifted and talented programs or specialized high schools. The proponents of these standardized tests for entrance to competitive screened schools allege the tests are a reliable, objective measure that reinforce the schools’ success and set the standard for academic achievement; ultimately, it’s not broke, so no need to fix it. We respectfully and vehemently disagree. Our prior 2014 testimony citing the Education Policy Research Institute at Arizona State University’s report, “High Stakes, But Low Validity,” and the American Educational Research Association’s 2012 qualitative research, challenged the wisdom of a sole measure for admitting students in specialized high schools, plus revealed the most competitive educational institutions determine academic merit using formulas comprised of multiple academic measures, among which the most highly valued variable is exceptional talent.


    The UFT believes admission to the specialized high schools must be changed to a system of multiple measures. This is not news. We urge the City Council to revisit our recommendations contained within our union task force’s 2014 report called “Redefining High Performance for Entrance Into Specialized High Schools — Making the Case for Change.” (4) That same standard, multiple indicators to assess a student’s academic standing, must be applied across the board – so a single test does not determine access to gifted and talented programs, middle schools or the specialized high schools. The UFT opposes creating additional specialized high schools where admission is based on a single test. The UFT supports admission programs based on multiple measures that capture a year of a student’s growth and ability.

    http://www.uft.org/testimony/testimony-regarding-segregation-new-york-city-public-schools

  • Entrenched positions and pleas for change: NYC council debates school integration

    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.”

    https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2019/05/01/entrenched-positions-and-pleas-for-change-nyc-council-debates-school-integration/

  • NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson: The time to act is now on specialized high schools

    I support the success of all communities, which is why I believe the single test admissions process used to gain admittance to our eight test-based specialized schools must be abolished.

    This is not a decision I make lightly, but I believe when tackling tough issues, we must make decisions based on fact, not on emotion or politics.

    The single test admissions process we currently operate under was flawed from the beginning. It was mandated in 1971 under the Hecht-Calandra Act as a direct response to integration efforts to increase the number of black and brown students in specialized high schools.

    The sponsors of that legislation — State Senator John Calandra and Assemblymember Burton Hecht – wanted to stop those efforts, which they felt were “an insidious attack” and “an attempt to destroy [those] schools.”

    https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2019/3/28/21107178/nyc-council-speaker-corey-johnson-the-time-to-act-is-now-on-specialized-high-schools

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Jumaane D. Williams

    Name: Jumaane D. Williams
    Public Advocate Link: https://advocate.nyc.gov/
    Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Jumaane_Williams
    Phone Hotline: (212) 669-7250

    Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams strongly supports the SHSAT as the sole measure of academic merit.  He argues that the only reason he got into a specialized high school was that he was good at taking tests, and not particularly good in class.

    Jumaane Williams has also been heavily lobbied on his SHSAT position by some of the city’s most powerful lobbyists. 

    Media:

    Jumaane accepts campaign contributions from Pro-SHSAT lobbyists for multiple years.

    These also seem to coincide with increase SHSAT scrutiny

    Now here’s Jumaane in his own words ( same years campaign contributions )…

    It’s difficult to fact-check this speech because there’s so much wrong. Beacon high school stats are wrong. Beacon is 14% Black, and 20% Latino. Much better than Stuyvesant’s 1% Black.

    He also argues substantially against multiple-measures. Claiming that muliple-measures of assessment are less accurate, while the ENTIRE industry argues the exact opposite.

    Response to 2018 SHSAT Results

    Mr Williams had the same tired excuses and redirects.


    Jumaane has been falsely “calling” for discussion from at least 2014. He never facilitates this discussion. He has never provided a framework for this discussion. He simply punts the issue with “needs discussion”, leaving the status quo he supports in place.

    The “Cutting off access points to education” Jumanne mentions is referring to a small tweak in the way the city defines “disadvantaged” in reference to disadvantaged students. The city now includes a child’s school poverty concentrate when calculating disadvantageness. That’s what Jumaane considers the big injustice this week.

    As for “pitting communities against each other“, I’d like to remind our public advocate that we have always had to fight the status quo for school integration. It has never come easily.