Liu: No quick fix to specialized high schools entrance exam

Senator John Liu showed his hand and hinted that he plans to kill any SHSAT reform by languishing the decision in committee over the next few years.

State Sen. John Liu said at City & State’s Education Summit on Thursday that he doesn’t expect any major changes to come out of Albany for at least several years as lawmakers and stakeholders figure out the best way to address racial disparities at the city’s specialized schools. The Queens lawmaker said that he does not yet know the best path forward, adding that he and his colleagues in the state Legislature don’t want to act hastily in response to results from the Specialized High Schools Admission Test.

High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: John Liu

Name: John Liu
Senate Link: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/john-c-liu
Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/John_Liu
Phone: 718-765-6675

Senator John Liu is a supporter of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for admissions to Specialized High Schools.

Senator Liu leads the Democrat Senate NYC Education committee. Which means he gets to decide what NYC education bills are brought to the Senate floor.

So we can pretty much confirm at this point that the mayor’s SHSAT proposal is dead as long as Senator Liu leads this committee.…

High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Andrew Gounardes

Senator Andrew Gounardes

Name: Andrew Gounardes
Senate Link: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/andrew-gounardes
Ballotpediahttps://ballotpedia.org/Andrew_S._Gounardes
Phone: (718) 238-6044

Senator Andrew Gounardes defends the use of the single SHSAT multiple-choice test as the SOLE measure of a student’s ability without any reservation.  Senator Gounardes has a classic “Resource Hoarding” position.  His constituents are over-represented by the exam, hence he defends it.

Senator Gounardes also claims the typical “the test is not the problem” position.  He does not acknowledge anti-female bias in the SHSAT.…

High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Toby Ann Stavisky

Name: Toby Ann Stavisky
Senate Link: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/toby-ann-stavisky
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ann_Stavisky
Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Toby_Ann_Stavisky
Phone: 718-939-0195

Senator Stavisky is the ranking member on the Democrat Senate’s Education Committee. She’s also a vocal proponent of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools.

Her son’s lobbying firm also recently took a contract for over $65,000 to lobby for the SHSAT exam.

Media: https://www.timesledger.com/stories/2018/41/staviskyshsat_2018_10_12_q.html