https://archive.is/AtT3w
Selective middle schools tend to be much whiter than the district overall. Mr. de Blasio is essentially piloting an experiment that, if deemed successful, could permanently lead to the elimination of all academically selective middle schools.
The time frame for a final decision on whether to get rid of middle school screens for good, which will fall just a few months before Mr. de Blasio leaves office on New Year’s Day in 2022, instantly created a test for the crop of mayoral candidates to wrestle with.
The candidates will have to take a position on whether they would resume the particularly contentious practice of measuring the academic achievements of fourth graders to determine if they can attend a selective middle school, or get rid of middle school screens.
After schools were closed in March, the state’s standardized English and math exams were canceled, the mayor scrapped attendance records as a measure of achievement. Students in younger grades switched from a letter-grade system to one that indicated if they passed a class or need to repeat it.
In 2018, one local district, Brooklyn’s District 15, eliminated all of its middle school screens and switched to a lottery admissions system. That closely watched effort was years in the making and was heralded as one of the most substantial desegregation measures in years. Now that change will be extended across the city.
In another large shift, New York will also eliminate a policy that allowed some high schools to give students who live nearby first dibs at spots — even though all high school seats are supposed to be available to all students, regardless of where they live. That system of citywide choice was implemented by former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2004 as part of an attempt to democratize high school admissions.
Selective middle schools tend to be much whiter than the district overall. Mr. de Blasio is essentially piloting an experiment that, if deemed successful, could permanently lead to the elimination of all academically selective middle schools.
The time frame for a final decision on whether to get rid of middle school screens for good, which will fall just a few months before Mr. de Blasio leaves office on New Year’s Day in 2022, instantly created a test for the crop of mayoral candidates to wrestle with.
The candidates will have to take a position on whether they would resume the particularly contentious practice of measuring the academic achievements of fourth graders to determine if they can attend a selective middle school, or get rid of middle school screens.
After schools were closed in March, the state’s standardized English and math exams were canceled, the mayor scrapped attendance records as a measure of achievement. Students in younger grades switched from a letter-grade system to one that indicated if they passed a class or need to repeat it.
In 2018, one local district, Brooklyn’s District 15, eliminated all of its middle school screens and switched to a lottery admissions system. That closely watched effort was years in the making and was heralded as one of the most substantial desegregation measures in years. Now that change will be extended across the city.
In another large shift, New York will also eliminate a policy that allowed some high schools to give students who live nearby first dibs at spots — even though all high school seats are supposed to be available to all students, regardless of where they live. That system of citywide choice was implemented by former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2004 as part of an attempt to democratize high school admissions.
