Re this article in today’s Times about the paucity of black and Latino students in the city’s selective public high schools, I’d be very interested in how you think the situation compares with that at City College and why.
Seven black students have been offered a chance to start classes at Stuyvesant High School in September, two fewer than received offers last year. For Hispanics, the number has dropped to 21 from 24.
According to data released on Tuesday, the racial demographics for incoming students at eight of the city’s nine specialized schools, where black and Hispanic students have long been underrepresented, has remained stagnant, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to call again for increasing diversity at the schools.
The eight schools have a single-test admittance policy that critics have called racially discriminatory.
“These schools are the jewels in the crown for our public school system,” Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference addressing criminal justice issues.
He added: “This is a city blessed with such diversity. Our schools, especially our particularly exceptional schools, need to reflect that diversity.”
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Funny story: I was talking to some peers who attended Stuyvesant High School. They said that when they looked through their yearbook, there was at least two pages of students with the last name “Chen”.
I do agree that there needs to be a change in the application process for Specialized High Schools, but I think that having an application that considers race as a factor would taint the process.
I remember applying to my high school. When I sat down to audition, I had to first write why I wanted to attend that school, and study that particular subject. Then I had to submit a report card. Finally, there was the awful, nerve wracking audition. And then the agonizing wait.
Based on the writing, and a student’s personality at the audition, my high school was able to gauge how well suited a student was, personality-wise, to the school. That should be the most important factor.
I would not encourage an essay as part of the SHSAT itself, but if each school required a personal statement, just to see who these faceless test scores were, the process might yield a more diverse set of students.
Ironically, back in my senior year in Bronx Science I noticed there were a lot more African Americans in the new freshman class than there was before. I do not think that the test itself needs to be changed. Yes, it is true that some ethnicities send their kids to prep school for this test. But, a person can do just as well with a prep book and a lot of practice tests. I did get a few months of test prep but my friend got a similar score to me by just doing practice tests for a few months. It may just be that some cultures enforce hard work more than others. But the main factor to doing well on these tests is just hard work not affluence. Screening for ethnicities will only create the same problem that college admissions have. A Hispanic student would need a lower score than the Asian students who need higher scores to get in due to inner racial competitions. Perhaps just advertising the test more and giving free test prep materials would be a better solution. This way the motivated students will have a better shot at getting in.