Heated Exchanges As Senators Listen To Brooklynites On SHSAT Exam

DOWNTOWN – Friday night saw nearly two hundred people turn up for to voice their opinion on the future of the now-controversial SHSAT exam at the Youth and Community Speak Out on Equity, Diversity, and Admissions, held at the Pzifer Auditorium at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, at Brooklyn’s MetroTech Center. The event was organized by State Senators, including Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D 25), who is a member of the State Senate Education Committee, and Senator John C. Liu (D 11), who heads that same Committee. Other politicians, including Senator Zellnor Myrie (D 20) and Senator Andrew Gounardes (D 22), Kevin Parker (D21), Roxanne Persaud (D19) as well as assemblymembers William Colton (D47) and Jo Anne Simon (D52) were in attendance.

The format was a debate over whether to eschew the SHSAT exam in order to increase diversity for New York City’s eight specialized high schools grows stronger. The intensity over how some Brooklynites, as well as other New Yorkers, feel about the tough exam was felt strongly Friday night, with many wearing T-shirts declaring their support for the SHSAT.

Earlier in the day, there was a public NYS Assembly hearing, in which no consensus was made on regarding whether scrapping the SHSAT would help increase diversity at the aforementioned high schools, according to Chalkbeat. But one thing was agreed on: the political leaders were not pleased by Mayor DeBlasio’s plans of how to tackle segregation in NYC public schools.

To read the full story, visit https://bklyner.com/heated-exchanges-as-senators-listen-to-brooklynites-on-shsat-exam/