The Atlantic

Letters: Should New York City Change the Admissions Process for Its Specialized High Schools?

Readers debate the merits of the city’s Specialized High School Admissions Test—and discuss whether it should be phased out altogether.
Source: Alex Brandon / AP

Don’t Scrap the Test, Help Black Kids Ace It

The current debate over the admissions test for New York City’s elite public high schools—a test Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to get rid of—is focused too much on “access” and not enough on preparation, John McWhorter argued earlier this month.

“To eliminate the test now would be to do so simply because black students were underperforming on it,” he wrote. “Whatever the good intentions behind that move, it would be antithetical to civic

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