Supporters of the SHSAT, the Specialized High School Admission Test, rallied in support of the test outside the office of Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) on Monday, August 28.

Holding signs proclaiming “Keep SHSAT,” the crowd of supporters made it clear that they oppose eliminating the test, which Assemblyman Colton stressed has served for years as a “pathway for newcomers to this country to achieve the American Dream.”

The rally is a first step in mobilizing parents and community members who want to see the SHSAT retained. Also underway is a petition drive.

“Strong forces are seeking to eliminate it,” Assemblyman Colton told the crowd. “We have to fight back.”

This is not the first time that supporters of the test – which is used to determine which students are admitted to the city’s eight public specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech – have battled to make sure that the test remains the criterion for admission, and for good reason.

“Historically,” says Assemblyman Colton, “many students who took the SHSAT and attended the specialized high schools were the first in their family to go to a specialized high school and the first in their family to go to college.”

Opponents of the SHSAT say that the test has significantly lessened diversity among students who attend the city’s specialized high schools. However, Assemblyman Colton – who taught in the city’s public schools for 11 years – contends that the problem stems not from requiring tested admissions but from the fact that, over the years, the city had eliminated many of its gifted and talented programs.

Rather than eliminate the test, Assemblyman Colton says, the city should commit to providing students in all districts with the best possible education, including offering seats in gifted and talented programs to all students who qualify.

While, in 2022, the city announced that it would be adding seats to its Gifted and Talented program, so that it would be available in all the city’s school districts, Gifted and Talented programs still only account for a total of 2,500 seats citywide; over one million students are enrolled in New York City public schools. This necessitates the use of a lottery to determine which students actually are admitted to a Gifted and Talented program, leaving many of them behind.

“Gifted programs are the pipeline to the SHSAT,” Assemblyman Colton stressed. “When they are restored, I firmly believe there will be no lack of diversity.”

Susan Zhuang, who is on unpaid leave from her post as Assemblyman Colton’s chief of staff, concurred. “Eliminating the test is not the solution,” she said at the rally. “The solution is preparing elementary and middle school students. We need to make sure the gifted program expands.”

Stanley Ng, a former member of the District 20 Community Education Council, pointed out that Districts 20 and 21 – which together cover a large portion of southwest Brooklyn – are the two top feeders citywide to the specialized high schools. “Any changes, we are impacted,” he stressed.

Community activist and retired educator Dr. Tim Law agreed. “Please don’t punish students who work very hard and have good grades,” he said.

Zoe Chin, who currently attends Stuyvesant, also made the case for retaining the SHSAT. Calling it, “A standard, relatively unbiased way of testing the academic potential and abilities of students,” she contended that, instead of eliminating the test, the city should provide more resources to students that don’t currently have access to them. “We should not be held back by our schools,” she said. “The SHSAT is not the problem.”