NYC Resumes Academic Screening At Elite Public Schools

NEW YORK CITY — The city's most elite middle and high schools will resume screening students by academic performance, the Education department announced Thursday, raising concerns about segregation in New York's public educational system.

Chancellor David Banks' controversial policy shift puts to an end the Bill de Blasio administration lottery system for middle school and resumes limitations on elite high school admissions to A students.

"If you’re working hard and you’re making the grade you should not be thrown into a lottery with just everybody," Banks explained at a press conference Thursday.

"Hard work and academic rigor and excellence will in fact be honored in this administration."

Under the new policy, school district superintendents will determine whether or not to implement middle school screening policies.

The return of screening will likely be celebrated by families who say lotteries disenfranchised students who went above and beyond, but has already raised concerns among New Yorkers worried about diversity.

Data show Black and Latino students are under-represented in the city's selective schools, which many New Yorkers — among them the city's top number-cruncher — believe to be a sign of institutionalized racism within the city's admissions process.

“Restoring middle-school screens will reinforce segregation in our schools," said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

"It elevates the notion that some children deserve 'good schools' while the vast majority do not."

Thursday's news came on the heels of a large data dump of New York City student test scores that showed, among other findings, that public school math scores plummeted during the pandemic.

Also this week, Niche released its annual school rankings that showed four out of the five best private schools in the city have their own screening process in place: the ability to afford tuition of up to $58,000 a year. That includes Kindergarten.

High school screening will not include state test results in its metrics but instead will rely on rankings by grade that divide students into five groups, the chancellor said.

Priority goes to the following groups in the following order:

• Group One: Seventh grade students with grades in the top 15 percent at their school or citywide and with an average of at least 90.
• Group Two: Other seventh grade students with grades in the top 30 percent at their school or citywide and an average of at least 80.
• Group Three: Other seventh grade students with grades in the top 50 percent at their school or citywide and an average of at least 70.
• Group Four: Group Two: Other seventh grade students with grades in the top 70 percent at their school or citywide and an average of at least 65.
• Group Five: All other students.

Another key change announced Thursday include:

1. Earlier Application And Offer Dates:
1. Middle School: Middle school applications will open Oct. 26, the deadline to apply will be Dec. 1, and students will receive offers in April.
2. High School: High school applications will open Oct. 12, the deadline to apply will be Dec. 1, and students will receive offers in early March.
2. School-Day Specialized High Schools Admissions Test Administration: Public school eighth graders will take the SHSAT during the school day rather than traveling to various sites on the weekend.
1. Registration begins Oct. 6.
2. Most public middle schools will administer the test on Nov. 17.
3. Private, parochial, and charter school students, as well as any interested ninth grade students, will take the test on the weekend of Nov. 19-20.
3. Extended Waitlists: The Education department has extended middle and high school waitlists to mid-September.

The chancellor also announced three new accelerated learning academies will open in the South Bronx, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and Southeast Queens by fall 2024.

Read more about the new changes announced Thursday on the Education department's website.