Fairness demands we nix this exam
et my people study.”
A movement to keep the Specialized High School Admissions Test as the sole criterion for admission to specialized high schools appropriated the line, “Let my people go,” from the African-American spiritual “Go Down Moses.”
The protesters — mostly low-income, first- and second-generation Asian immigrants — wish to prevent Mayor de Blasio from dismantling what they consider a meritocratic system. They blast de Blasio’s plan, which would instead admit a set percentage of the highest-performing students from each city middle school, as discriminatory; another popular sign says, “End racism.”
My mom, a Chinese immigrant, also supports the SHSAT. When I told her I was writing this article, she texted me, “Everyone I know will hate you,” telling me instead to write in support of the test.
Though I sympathize with these concerns, the appropriation of “Let my people go” reveals how the campaign to keep the SHSAT reeks of irony and ignorance. De Blasio wishes to admit more black and Latino students, who, despite making up 67% of New York City’s public school system, represent just 10% of students offered enrollment in specialized high schools. Stuyvesant is only 0.69% black and 2.8% Latino. It’s hypocritical for protesters to invoke slavery, an experience that belongs to black Americans, when they’re advocating to keep in place a system that denies disadvantaged black Americans an opportunity for social mobility.
Defenders of the current system, hailing the test as establishing a level playing field, argue that if more black and Latino students truly wanted to attend specialized high schools, they could just study harder. I have repeatedly heard my classmates champion this mind-set, implying that black and Latino students are not as hardworking, and, even more disturbingly, not as smart as their Asian counterparts.
The SHSAT, however, does not measure work ethic or intelligence, but a student’s ability to answer over 100 tedious multiple choice questions in under three hours. It tests for access to tutors and cram schools that teach students the skills they need to answer the questions without thinking.
I flunked my first practice tests. After a prep class and some tutoring sessions, however, I knew all the tricks. If I hadn’t had access to that class, I likely would not have gotten into Stuy.
The exam only tests for reading comprehension and math skills — no critical thinking, ambition, creativity or other qualities that predict success at specialized high schools.
Other prestigious public high schools don’t admit students based solely on one test. For example, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., and Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago, both of which consistently rank above Stuyvesant and most other specialized high schools, take into account criteria like state test scores, middle school grades, essays and teacher recommendations.
Perhaps Walter Payton should be New York’s model for diversification. Thirty percent of seats go to Chicago’s highest-achieving students, while the other 70% of applicants are separated into tiers based on the socioeconomic status of their neighborhood — from Tier 1, the highest socioeconomic Tier, to Tier 4, the lowest socioeconomic tier.
This system results in a student body that is about 36% black and Latino, more representative of Chicago than specialized high schools are of our city — without sacrificing academic excellence.
It’s also worth noting that de Blasio still plans to measure proficiency in reading comprehension and math by using the state tests, which all public school students take, unlike the SHSAT, which is only taken by students who know it exists.
And to those who claim that under the new system, some kids will fall flat: Specialized high schools already offer courses to help students behind their peers in English and math. For example, Stuyvesant offers double-period algebra and geometry class for freshmen who didn’t learn algebra in middle school.
Defenders who chant, “The test is not the problem,” are right to say that the biggest underlying issue is the city’s public school system, which has big achievement and resource gaps among schools and student groups.
But if we’re going to tackle that problem, we have to start somewhere. Changing admission to specialized high schools is a small step in the right direction.