Episode 1: The Price of Specialized High Schools
“It’s really dangerous for kids that come from privilege to only see peers that look like them.”
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New York's City's specialized high schools have a diversity problem – always have. But even though politicians express shock and outrage when the admissions numbers come out each spring, the numbers don't change. This year, only 10% of offers to specialized schools went to black and Hispanic students, in a school system that is nearly 70% black and Hispanic. While the roots of this issue run deep, the most proximate cause seems to be the standardized exam that serves as the sole admissions method to the schools.
On this episode, reporter Yasmine Chokrane takes you inside the grueling process of preparing for that exam and shares her interviews with two students who had very different paths to specialized high schools. The episode also features insightful commentary from co-host Sabrina DuQuesnay and research expertise from Lazar Treschan, the youth policy director at the Community Service Society of New York.
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