On December 5th, Zhu Yating, former Republican candidate for the New York State Senate, co-founder of PLACE NYC and “Asia Kawaii”, and a Chinese-American education advocate, urged Chinese parents in New York City to come out on December 18th to support the approval by the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) of the contract with Pearson regarding the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), in order to ensure that the test is conducted as scheduled next year for the 30,000 students in the city.
The renowned “Specialized High School Admissions Test” in New York was established as the sole method of admission to 8 specialized high schools by the 1971 Hecht-Calandra Act. The five-year contract with Pearson, the company that provides the test services, is set to expire this year. If the contract is not renewed smoothly, there will be no test for specialized high schools in New York City starting from fall 2025.
In a commentary article published in the New York Post the day before, Zhu Yating expressed that families in public schools are once again feeling fearful, worrying that if the PEP does not approve the contract with Pearson, their children will not be able to pass the test to enter these prestigious high schools.
“Some radical opponents of selective admission systems have singled out the SHSAT as the primary target among 700 high school programs in the city, believing that the digitization of the test and the cost of signing a contract with Pearson – $3 million annually, averaging $113 per student – ’causes concern,’ prompting the PEP to postpone the vote twice,” Zhu Yating wrote.
She told this paper on the 5th that the current situation is similar to the one during the voting on the admission test contract for the gifted program in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. “But unlike the SHSAT, we have the support of state law, as there are some who want to cancel the test without signing a contract.”
Zhu Yating stated that the current Mayor, Adams, unlike the former Mayor, de Blasio, supports the specialized high school admissions test. A minority in the PEP who opposes “selective admission” wishes to undermine the remaining education concept in New York City that focuses on academic achievement.
“Only 46.8% of high school students reached proficiency in algebra exams this year, a 9% decrease from 2023,” she wrote. “Even with an influx of 50,000 immigrant families with children since 2023, the enrollment is 100,000 lower than in 2019.”
She believes that if New York City continues to decrease the gifted programs, lower graduation standards, and restrict the class size limits at popular schools, more middle-class families will leave the city.
“We hope all parents who care about education in New York will come out at 6:00 PM on December 18th to show our strength outside the polling place,” Zhu Yating said. The voting location for the PEP is Sunset Park High School (153 35th Street, Brooklyn). “Chinese parents, please come out to urge the government to approve Pearson’s contract and preserve our specialized high school admissions test.”