Controversial admissions changes at the city’s most competitive high schools, aimed at diversifying education opportunities, will disproportionately harm Asian kids, critics argue.
Under a new formula, applicants with grades as low as 65 to 75 in some classes can land in the highest lottery tier with those who score all 90s.
Critics assert the system minimizes the impact of student performance on admission to some of the city’s most coveted schools.
Parent Kaushik Das, of Community Education Council 2 in Manhattan, said Wednesday that the approach will negatively impact Asian applicants.
“It’s part of an incessant attack on Asians at the Department of Education,” Das said. “It’s the latest watering down of standards and a not so thinly veiled attack on Asian students and meritocracy.”
The city’s Asian kids have long predominated at many of the Department of Education’s premier schools and have the highest admissions rates of any demographic.
Parent Yiatin Chu echoed Das, asserting that the new system is a “lottery masquerading as screened criteria.”
In a prior statement, the DOE said that the new system would “will expand opportunity, especially for black and Hispanic students.”
Some parent advisory boards have drafted resolutions opposing the new metrics this week and are pressing for a reconsideration.
Admissions fights have flared in recent years and hit a boiling point during the tenure of former schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.
Carranza frequently clashed with the Asian community amid attempts to revamp admissions at the city’s specialized high schools.
An aborted plan floated by City Hall during the de Blasio administration would have cut Asian attendance at the eight campuses by half.
Das said new schools Chancellor David Banks now runs the risk of renewing that confrontation with fresh admissions overhauls.
But parent Kaliris Salas, of Community Education Council 4, backed the new system and said all groups will benefit from expanded opportunity.
“The goal is to increase access and opportunity for all students of color that come from vulnerable communities,” she said. “Hopefully, this will also benefit the Asian community as well as increase significantly the population of the Black and Latino community.”
Chu said she hopes to avoid a renewal of hostilities between the DOE and Asian New Yorkers.
“Since he’s only a month in I will give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of shoring up the system in place to do better,” she said.
The DOE said it was open to future modifications.
“This will create more opportunity for all students and expand access to these schools, and we are committed to engaging with students, families, and school communities on our future admissions processes,” said spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas.
