‘Specialized’ for a good reason

Rockledge, Fla.: For almost 20 years, I have worked for various NASA contractors in support of space exploration, and I am proud to say that I am a product of Brooklyn Technical High School. I was blessed to have wonderful teachers who inspired me to achieve my goal of being an aerospace engineer. Mayor de Blasio’s plan to get rid of the SHSAT to increase diversity is ill-conceived and being done to score political points with specific constituencies. It does little to address the real issue: the decline of the quality of K-8 education in minority neighborhoods. This is the root cause of the lack of diversity.

When I attended Brooklyn Tech, the percentage of black and Hispanic students was near 25%. What changed? Is it because the test got harder? No, it is simply because the K-8 system is not preparing kids for the work that will appear on the test. Plain and simple. There are fewer gifted and talented programs in minority neighborhoods and the ones that do exist do not have the same rigor as G&T programs in other parts of the city. Yet de Blasio goes to churches to tell parishioners that the SHSAT is an injustice. Political pandering at its best.

Asians now make up the largest percentage of students in the specialized high schools. What is it that they have figured out that black and Latino parents haven’t? They prioritize academic achievement above all else. They should not be penalized for that. They should be emulated. Yusef Johnson Monroe Township, N.J.: So Mayor de Blasio want to scrap the admissions test to get into the elite high schools. How does a test block blacks and Latinos from getting in? Pass the test and get in, fail the test and you don’t. Letting undeserving students of any color in will make these elite schools just another school. Don’t all students take the same test? Oakhurst, N.J.: The test is race-, gender- and creed-neutral. It tests academic qualifications — nothing else. Relying on anything else for admission will negate the “elite” in the description. The deterioration of the CUNY colleges during the “open enrollment” era is prima facie evidence of what happens when standards are ignored. The cure is to improve the educational standards in the public schools K-8. Everyone will have an equal opportunity. unfairness of parents who can afford to pay for years of test prep to get their kids into the elite high schools. If a kid needs that much preparation to pass one test, do they really have the skills and ability to do the kind of college-level work that schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science will require of them? I myself didn’t study for that test for one minute, but gained admission to Bronx Science. I hadn’t gone to any fancy schools prior, but did have parents who placed an emphasis on reading and on working hard while I was in elementary and middle school. New Hope, Pa.: The gross underrepresentation of black and Hispanic students in the elite high schools is the direct result of Mayor de Blasio’s utter failure to provide an equal opportunity for success for all students regardless of race or culture from the time they enter school in pre-K to the time they leave after the eighth grade. Shame on de Blasio for trying to use the entrance test to cover up his dismal lack of leadership. Forest Hills: Mayor de Blasio need not blame the single test admission for specialized high schools for being unfair. The mayor just needs to look in the mirror to find blame. The Department of Education has failed the 1.1 million children in its system. We have four children going through the system. Elementary and middle schools are putting kids that learn at varying speeds in the same class. The rationale is to allow the children learning at a slower rate to be in the “higher/honor” classes. The practice makes no sense. You eliminate the SHSAT, then what happens? Everyone will suffer. The DOE needs to admit that they failed kids at an early age and build the foundation for them to succeed — not just on the SHSAT, but in life! Glendale: Mayor de Blasio believes that people will be up in arms with his plan to change the admissions policy to the top high schools due to racial prejudice. Bill, I have news for you: People are outraged since you want to dumb down the standards. Keep the test and improve the schools that you are responsible for with mayoral control. Most of the seats in the specialized schools are occupied by hardworking Asian students. That’s the way it is supposed to be. Manhattan: My older siblings went to Stuyvesant and the 1977 yearbook shows that the graduating class was one-quarter black. What happened? When did these schools turn so white and Asian? Mineola, L.I.: If the specialized high schools were overrun with upper-income white kids, it would be easy to blame “white privilege,” economic advantage or test bias for the disparity. This, however, is not the case. Asian students are disproportionately accepted into the specialized high schools. Are we to assume that the test is somehow designed to be biased against non-Asians? I teach in a Title I school with a large Asian population. Many of these students go to schools and tutoring programs after school and on weekends to prepare for these types of exams. When a strong emphasis and priority is placed on education within a family, the results are more likely to be positive. Brooklyn: So our Communist mayor is now busy fiddling with the school system in an effort to incorporate a phony “diversity” in all high schools. Instead of having prestigious schools requiring students with excellent drive, talent and performance scores, he wants to open the floodgates to mediocrity. Glen Cove, L.I.: As a proud graduate of Brooklyn Tech, Class of 1963, I object to de Blasio’s plan to eliminate the test for admission. Oh, by the way, did his son take the test and get in — apparently! But now that he’s done, let’s loosen the standard?! Enough PC and dumbing down. South Hempstead, L.I.: Wouldn’t it be more productive for advocates of increasing black and MARK BONIFACIO/DAILY NEWS Hispanic enrollment at elite public high schools to find out why Asians, many from poor backgrounds and with language barriers, are able to excel? Then instead of lowering standards, other minorities could emulate them. Or does de Blasio think that blacks and Hispanics are incapable of meeting rigorous standards? Isn’t that racist? Mastic, L.I.: Once again, Mayor de Blasio hurts the kids. Instead of fixing the bad schools and giving kids a chance for a good education, he will take the successful schools and lower the admission requirements in the name of diversity. These top schools do an outstanding job, and the kids who pass the entrance exam get an outstanding education. That will change; as standards are lowered, achievement will also go down. This is a mayor who fights charter schools because they outperform city schools. That kind of thinking helps no one, and only encourages poor effort. Brooklyn: The mayor can talk about desegregating public schools until he turns blue, but the privileged (and not so privileged) white and Asian parents don’t want their precious kids associating with black and Latino children, end of story. And they will fight tooth and nail to keep it that way and will win. That is the reason charter schools were established.