Diversity in High School Admissions Update

By Maureen Waldner on March 26

High school admissions statistics were released for this year’s round of applicants, and despite Mayor de Blasio’s efforts, the city’s elite schools remain majority white and Asian. Only 4.1% of offers at the specialized high schools that require an entry exam went to black students, while 6.3% went to Hispanic students, compared to a staggering 74% going to Asian students according to data released Wednesday by the education department. Furthermore, These statistics are astonishingly low, considering 70% of New York City students are black or Hispanic.

Another major concern is the socioeconomic status of those admitted. Specialized schools are admitting far more students from higher income families. This is due to the extreme, rigorous test preparation this test requires students to go through. Children who can’t afford test prep or tutors are put at a considerable disadvantage. The system is designed for upper-class students to get a better education than their lower class counterparts. We need to amend the specialized high school admissions criteria to make it more feasible for lower-income families. Some ways this could be fixed is the city offering free test prep or eliminating the test altogether, and basing the admissions off of grades or an interview rather than just one test based on how much money one family can spend.

It’s time for the city to recognize the insane inequity of the specialized school's admissions system and its impact on the students of New York City.