Why Specialized High Schools are So Important
As the world becomes more globalized and the innovation economy continues to expand, there is a growing need for talent that will help build this new world that is upon us. The sort of talent that will thrive in the 21st century economy will be those who are inherently problem solver and have a knack for the various STEAM fields. When I think of
We need Specialized High Schools
There are students without those amazing grades that show up on exam day and do very well and the Specialized High Schools are an amazing redeeming opportunity for them. We have a few of those examples of students who had 70’s and low 80’s in 7th grade, realized the need to work harder and now had the SHSAT as a last resort option to access an amazing high school. There is room in NYC’s 435 high schools for 8 schools that offer this opportunity.
Jumaane Williams is not for getting rid of the SHSAT altogether. He defends the SHSAT because he himself only got into a Specialized High School thanks to the SHSAT; his middle school grades were not good. He appreciates that there are kids who only do well on testing, especially boys, and if you take away test-only schools, of which there are only 8 in NYC, you are hurting those kids (there are already hundreds of schools in NYC that use grades for kids who don't do well with grades)
