"If the SHSAT [contract] does not get renewed, all the seventh-graders who want to go to these schools are out of luck," Phoebe Gerber, a seventh-grader at PS 334 on the Upper West Side, said at a public meeting on Wednesday where speakers poured out to support the exam. "I have toured many of these specialized high schools and have fallen in love with them, just like a lot of other seventh graders."
Proponents of the merit-based exam and admissions process fear the contract vote is a back-door way for woke critics of the controversial test, which is required by law for entrance into some of the elite schools, to finally kill it.
Opponents of the test point to a lack of Black and Latino representation within the eight specialized schools. Last year, only 4.5% of offers went to Black students and 7.6% to Latino students, according to city data.
Some also argue that pricey test prep is out of reach for low-income families.
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