School blowback

Asian groups, gov skeptical of elite-HS integrate plan

CRITICS ACROSS the city — and in Albany — came out swinging Monday against Mayor de Blasio’s new plan to desegregate top city high schools.

De Blasio unveiled a program to set quotas for the city’s specialized high schools over the weekend and also threw his support behind legislation to end testbased admissions to the schools.

But Asian-American groups ripped his plan at a Monday press conference in Brooklyn, saying those changes will block deserving kids from getting seats.

The event in Sunset Park was organized by Asian American Community Empowerment and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance.

“These are elite schools and you shouldn’t punish those who do so good,” said Nancy Tong, community relations director for state Assemblyman William Colton (D-Brooklyn).

Speaking on NY1 Monday, Gov. Cuomo said de Blasio’s favored legal fix to do away with test-based admissions for the schools is a nonstarter in the state Legislature.

“I don’t know if there is much of an appetite in Albany now to get into a new bill, a new issue,” the governor said.

De Blasio’s plan found support from actress Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging Cuomo in the Democratic primary.

“We need to integrate those schools. It’s completely unjust,” the Democratic challenger said. IN THE WAKE of a spate of school shootings across the country in recent years, state Controller Thomas DiNapoli wants to see if the state and New York City Education departments are doing enough to ensure schools are safe. DiNapoli on Monday announced his office has begun audits into whether the two Education departments are ensuring that schools have adequate and current safety plans in the event of either a school shooting or major emergency. “Sadly, every school district in New York and across the country has to plan for the unthinkable,” DiNapoli said. A law enacted in 2000 requires schools to develop policies and procedures covering safe evacuation, communication in emergencies, emergency responder access to building plans, and school violence prevention training. DiNapoli said that starting this month, his auditors will look at several schools across the state to see how effectively they have followed the law.