What might have been a pro-forma vote on a contract has revived the fierce debate about admissions and equity at New York City’s most elite high schools.
Members of the city’s educational oversight board, the Panel for Educational Policy, are scheduled to vote next week on a five-year contract for test publisher Pearson to produce the SHSAT, a standardized test that determines admission to the city’s eight specialized schools. In a shift, the roughly $17 million contract calls for the test to be provided by computer rather than on paper.
But some panel members have pushed back, raising concerns about how the move to computer-based testing could disadvantage already-underrepresented students. Others object to the test altogether.
“We have communities that have been historically disenfranchised by this test, and continue to be,” said panel member Tom Sheppard. “For me it’s an equity issue.”
Last spring, only 10 Black students were admitted to the 744-person first-year class at Stuyvesant High School, an elite public school in Lower Manhattan. That number is similar to recent years.
The eight specialized schools are designed to support students who excel academically. The schools are considered a ladder to selective colleges and universities.
But overall, only a tiny fraction of offers to those eight schools go to Black and Latino students. Last spring, just 4.5% of offers to the specialized high schools went to Black students, with 7.6% going to Hispanic students. City education department officials said that was the highest proportion in recent years.
Sheppard said he will vote against the contract, rejecting a system where, in the entire incoming class at Stuyvesant, “you can count the number of Black students on your fingers.”
As the sole determinant of admission, the SHSAT has led to explosive debates and protests before.
Proponents argue the test identifies students who can handle the rigorous academic programs. Critics argue families with more money can game the system by paying for test prep that paves the way for admission.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio had proposed eliminating the test, but backed off after fierce opposition, particularly from Asian parents. Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has largely sidestepped the debate, calling for more rigorous programming throughout the city’s public schools.
But the Panel for Education Policy has previously used its power to accept or reject contracts in order to influence policy. lt rejected the city’s contract for a Gifted and Talented test in 2021, which raised the possibility that the program might end all together. It didn’t, though it did lead to changes in admissions policies.
The panel held a town hall on Wednesday to hear from the public on the Pearson contract. Most speakers spoke in favor of the SHSAT and called on the PEP to vote for the contract.
Seventh-grade student Phoebe Gerber said she didn’t want to waste the work she and her classmates had already done to prepare for the SHSAT next fall.
“I have toured many of these specialized high schools and have fallen in love with them, just like a lot of other seventh graders,” Gerber said. She worried that rejecting the contract could upend next year’s admissions, leaving kids like her “out of luck.”
Debbie Kross, a member of the Citywide Council on High Schools, said many of the 30,000 students who typically take the test have already begun studying. “Throwing a curveball to those families at this late date would be cruel,” she said.
But parent Gavin Healy said the SHSAT is unfair.
“By ensuring reliance on paid test prep, the SHSAT weeds out students who can’t afford to compete,” Healy said. He added that rejecting the contract did not have to mean stalling the admissions process.
“The sky is not falling,” he said.
Some speakers called for a one-year extension with time to reconsider.
The test is enshrined in state law, which has faced several recent repeal efforts in the state Legislature. All of those attempts have failed.
Panel chair Gregory Faulkner said members would take the public’s feedback into account ahead of a scheduled vote on Dec. 18.
He noted that Ivy League universities have dropped the SAT in recent years, although several have since revived it.
“I don’t think it’s as much eliminating the exam as whether it should be the sole criterion,” he said. “It may be a future conversation.”