Today, the New York City Department of Education issued the results for the 2017 Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), which governs admission to the city’s eight specialized high schools. Those results show that, despite making up roughly 70 percent of the entire public school population combined, just 3.8 percent of all offers to specialized high schools went to black students and just 6.5 percent of all offers went to Latino students this year.
“Today’s announcement illustrates just how deep the chasm is between different communities in our public education system, and provides us with new evidence that the city is not doing enough to nurture and support gifted education in every neighborhood.
“Students all over this city have for too long been denied the opportunities to which they are entitled when it comes to gifted education. My office is co-hosting hearings later this month, in partnership with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, to hear directly from parents and educators about the issues our communities face when it comes to access to gifted programs and the negative effects a lack of such access has on admissions to our specialized high schools,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
The first public hearing of Borough Presidents Adams and Diaz’s task force will take place in Brooklyn on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street. The Bronx will host a second hearing on Monday, March 20, 2017, at the Bronx High School of Science, 75 West 205th Street. Both hearings will run from 6:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.
A flyer for the hearings can be viewed at http://on.nyc.gov/2yOUmLr.