School daze for city girls

Many more boys given top HS spots

NEW CITY Education Department data shows that fewer girls than boys were accepted to the city’s top high schools this year — even though more girls tried to gain admission.

Just 2,240 female students were accepted to the city’s top public high schools in 2018, compared to 2,799 male students who were accepted.

That’s the case even though 14,607 girls took the test used for admission to the schools, compared with 13,693 boys.

Advocates and elected officials ripped the dismal gender stats.

“You would think that the city would be taking every step they could, to ensure that girls are accepted to these high schools at at least the same rate as boys,” said Class Size Matters executive director Leonie Haimson.

“Girls should have the same opportunities as boys and the data suggests that this entrance exam has a gender bias that needs to be addressed,” Haimson added.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams also blasted the stats.

The Department of Education “should be ashamed of the results of its specialized high school admissions offers,” Adams said.

“It is unacceptable to say you care about gender and racial diversity and then fail to produce any semblance of equity in the number of female, black and Latino test takers and admitted students,” he added.

Eight specialized high schools, including Bronx Science, Manhattan’s Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech, use the Spe- cialized High Schools Admissions Test to admit students.

The ninth specialized school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, admits students based on an audition and review of academic records.

This year, the exam was changed to better reflect what students were actually learning in class.

But just 527 black and Hispanic kids were accepted into the city’s elite specialized high schools in 2018, the data show. That’s virtually unchanged from 524 kids last year.

Education Department spokesman Doug Cohen said the city recognizes it has a problem and it is trying to do better.

“We are committed to equity and excellence for all our students and recognize that there is more work to do to achieve this goal,” Cohen said.