NYC school diversity panel recommends ending gifted programs in public schools. One member explains the surprising decision.
A panel appointed by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to find ways to diversify schools in the nation’s largest system just came out with a surprising recommendation: eliminate gifted programs in the city’s public schools. The mayor, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he would take that suggestion under advisement.
The issue has been of concern for years in New York City, which has among the nation’s most segregated schools, with a lack of diversity extending to its gifted programs in the lower grades and to selective high schools that admit students based on a single standardized test score.
The recommendation by the panel includes gifted programs in elementary schools — which also select students based on a test score — and middle schools, as well as some high schools. It does not, however, include the city’s eight most elite high schools, even though they have diversity issues, as well.
For example, for the 2019-2020 school year, data released from the district in March showed that only seven of 895 students who received offers to attend Stuyvesant High School — the hardest of the selective schools in which to gain admittance — were black. Stuyvesant also initially offered admissions to 587 Asian students, 194 white students, 45 students of unknown race or ethnicity, 33 Latino students, 20 multiracial students and nine Native Americans.
De Blasio appointed the School Diversity Advisory Group two years ago. In its first report, it made some recommendations earlier this year on how to start diversifying the public school system, which has about 1.1 million students. The key recommendation was for the city to set diversity targets for all schools, such that they “reflect the diversity of the entire community.” CONTINUE READING: NYC school diversity panel recommends ending gifted programs in public schools. One member explains the surprising decision. - The Washington Post
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