Bronx, NY – Recent announcements from a variety of city and state officials have caused significant concerns for many parents that the admissions process for the eight schools which use scores from the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) will soon be changing. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) issued the following statement in response:

“There is no denying that the student population at our specialized high schools does not reflect the makeup of our public school system population. However, blaming this disparity on the existence of one test is a red herring which avoids a very real problem in our public schools. For many of our students, they are behind their peers from Day One – if not before. If we truly want to help improve academic parity among all students then we need to focus on improving education quality in all schools, from pre-Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade and beyond. It is irresponsible to blame a standardized admissions test for uneven results when the inequity was present before anyone ever sat down to take it.

Proposed legislation to eliminate the SHSAT only lowers the bar for academic success. We should instead be raising standards, and helping all students meet these lofty expectations. In 2016, I was proud to help secure an additional $2 million in state funding to increase diversity in our specialized high schools - funding which to my knowledge doesn’t appear to have been used. This funding included money for test prep in underrepresented middle schools as well as funding for test prep targeting students on free- and reduced-price lunch. While these initiatives were a good start, we all know it isn’t enough to start helping students succeed only once they are teenagers.

I have previously proposed that the Department of Education provide free test prep for any and every student who wants it. In addition, I have suggested that the SHSAT test be an opt-out test, not opt-in, meaning that every student should take the test unless they specifically choose not to. That would undoubtedly result in many more students from underrepresented communities being offered admission to one of the specialized high schools. Furthermore, the city should create additional specialized high schools, as it did a number of years ago. These additional schools could have different admissions criteria that the eight high schools currently using the SHSAT, similar to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia school.

As an elected official, and a parent and proud alumni of New York City public schools, we cannot let impassioned outrage rule the day. It is our obligation to take the time our children deserve to look carefully at the root causes of inequality and work together to address them. I cannot support the proposed legislation which would lower standards for excellence without doing anything whatsoever to improve education quality for the hundreds of thousands of students attending non-specialized high schools throughout the five boroughs.”