The landscape of accessible and equitable education has been fundamentally shifted following the Supreme Court's recent decision to eviscerate affirmative action within higher academia. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the inaugural Black woman on the Supreme Court, poignantly illuminated that the exclusion of race from legal observance does not eradicate its presence and influence in the sphere of lived realities.
New York City's public high schools, in particular, are also battling profound racial inequities. These institutions of learning are ideally positioned to act as a springboard for success—providing an opportunity to create a level educational playing field. However, rather than fostering equality, the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), operating as the sole determinant of admissions, promotes segregation among these prestigious schools.
Five years have lapsed since my first commentary on racial disparities perpetuated by the SHSAT. Regrettably, the problem persists, with successive reports continually highlighting the alarmingly low acceptance rate of African-American students. As the Supreme Court progressively undermines affirmative action in collegiate institutions, the urgency to institute equality within our high schools cannot be overstated.
The fairness of standardized testing for undergraduate admissions, despite its benign appearance, is, in reality, a façade. These exams, initiated in the starkly segregated 1950s, were intentionally designed to be discriminatory. This was a strategic move to maintain segregation by contriving tests that were inherently tricky for Black students.
Astute universities began detecting this bias and progressively discarded ACT and SAT requirements. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this transition. Now, as many universities have elected to maintain these relaxed requirements in the post-pandemic climate, over 80% of four-year colleges no longer necessitate test scores. The educational enterprises across the nation have started to grasp that these tests, more often than not, serve as a discriminatory tool, rather than an accurate means to gauge a student's prowess.
Stuyvesant High School, a revered institution, starkly reflects this systemic bias. With only seven Black students proliferated among 762 admitted students, the school exemplifies the embedded discrimination within educational institutions. The situation is made worse by the ongoing attention to the persistently decreasing number of Black student admissions, particularly in the absence of consequential actions to address this issue.
Established by the Calandra-Hecht Act in 1971, the SHSAT has been the centerpiece of controversy. Critics including then-Mayor John Lindsay argued that its purpose was to thwart ambitions to desegregate New York's top schools. By design, the test inherently favors students with access to wealth and resources—those who can afford extensive tutoring and dedicated study hours.
Renowned education professor, David Bloomfield, likens our reluctance to address these glaring racial disparities to the movie Groundhog Day, as we persist in repeating the same mistakes day after day. He asserts that the SHSAT does not measure a student's authentic holistic intelligence, but rather their capacity to pass a single test.
On a positive note, LaGuardia High School, the sole specialized high school that dismisses the SHSAT requirement in favor of performance auditions, offers a beacon of hope. It is a testament that alternatives to the SHSAT can foster a more varied student body. As a proud alumna of LaGuardia, I can attest to the significant role it has played in my personal and professional development.
In conclusion, the education sector requires transformational changes to ensure criteria are equitable. A reform in admissions, where the SHSAT account for only 20% of the evaluation—with grades, personal statements, extracurricular activities, interviews, and recommendation letters forming the rest—is imperative. Only then can we dismantle the segregational structures within high schools and foster an environment conducive to equal opportunity and success for all students.
