New York City parents sounded off Wednesday night on the admissions test to specialized high schools — with both proponents and critics saying a decision, either for or against a contract to continue the exam, was the “moral” thing to do.
Plans to digitize the SHSAT, the entrance test to eight schools — including Stuyvesant High School, the Bronx High School of Science, and Brooklyn Technical High School — have become a flashpoint in the city’s perennial debate over the use of a single test to admit students.
For about two hours, a committee of the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) heard speakers on a contract to develop a computer-based version of the SHSAT. After repeated delays, the full board is set to vote next week on a $17-million agreement with testing giant Pearson.
“Rejecting the contract, in my point of view, is akin to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and hoping that before we land, we’re able to find a solution,” said Melih Onvural, a parent of three public school students, including an eighth grader who just took the SHSAT and a seventh grader who is studying.
The specialized high schools, known as crown jewels of the city’s school system, have failed to admit a diverse group of students and been seen as a symbol of school segregation. Some panel members have expressed reservations about continuing to rely on a test — and allocating more funds to Pearson for creating a digital version — in light of the disparate outcomes.
Black and Hispanic students got just 12% of offers based on their SHSAT score, despite making up 46% of test-takers, according to school system data. At the same time, the schools have provided a launch pad to the middle class, particularly for Asian families, who received 52% of offers through the testing process.
About 25,700 eighth graders took the exam last year.
“I really hope that you will do what you can to lean into taking a moral position,” Johanna Bjorken, a parent of a Manhattan high school student, told the panel. “Because unfortunately, the way this works, it only comes to you to take this position when we’re here at approving the contract.”
Another parent, who referenced her own experience of coming to the United States to pursue an education, said she wants the same opportunities for her child.
“Standardized tests give every child a fair shot,” said the mom, whose daughter is in the fifth grade. “They create opportunities that would not exist otherwise, rewarding effort and ability over circumstances. It’s not about the test itself. It’s about the doors it unlocks for kids who dream big and work hard to make those dreams real.”
“Please approve the contract,” she asked. “That’s the right thing to do. That’s the moral thing to do.”
Fueling the anxiety over the future of the SHSAT, which drew most of the speakers Wednesday night, are parallels to a similar vote by the PEP in 2021.
While the PEP can reject contract proposals, it almost never exercises that authority because of the composition of the panel, which is made up of mostly mayoral appointees. But during the pandemic, the board unexpectedly rebuffed a controversial Pearson testing contract to admit students as young as incoming kindergarteners to gifted programs.
“When I was younger, I was the last year of kids who got to take the G&T test. I got one or two books to study from and I ended up at school where the teachers, students and admin teach me in a completely different way, opening me up to so many experiences I never would have been able to try,” said a Manhattan student.
But while the city had the authority to phase out the admissions test for gifted elementary school programs, it does not have the same power over specialized high schools.
Asked about the test, Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos at a Brooklyn town hall said the school system is in the process of opening more high-quality schools. But while the city makes the final determination on vendors, the process for specialized high schools “is set forth by the state, and we will continue to abide by that.”
“Anything that changes in the future, we’ll abide by that too,” she said last week in School District 21, which covers Coney Island to Brighton Beach.
Wednesday night’s meeting in advance of the SHSAT vote was the first of a newly formed “engagement committee.” Typically, the PEP asks the public for input during its regularly scheduled meetings, just minutes before the board votes.
“I don’t think it’s as much an idea of eliminating the exam, as much as if it should be the sole criteria for admission?” said Gregory Faulkner, chair of the PEP. “And so, I really don’t have a problem with having an exam. It’s whether the exam should be the basis alone — and this may be a future conversation, I realize that — but that’s the area for me that I’m grappling with.”
“It is a tough decision, but I think we’ll arrive at — I’m confident the panel is going to arrive at a good decision,” Faulkner said.
A final vote on the contract is scheduled for Dec. 18 at Sunset Park High School in Brooklyn.
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