The elimination of standard testing as the only application criteria for New York schools such as Stuyvesant is a travesty. Opinion pieces on this topic consis

The elimination of standard testing as the only application criteria for New York schools such as Stuyvesant is a travesty. Opinion pieces on this topic consistently misrepresent the situation. Many, many, elite High schools in Nyc are applied to on the basis of a wide variety of criteria. Grades, essays, you name it. These schools have a wonderful mix of admissions processes which allows each of them to capture a portion of promising students that others may miss. There are exactly 3 High Schools that exclusively use one standardized test. Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech. Even if these schools favor people who are “good at tests” that’s fine! The other amazing high schools can grab the students who are talented in other ways. Removing those three disadvantages people who might be highly motivated and/or intelligent but have trouble meeting other vague criteria. That’s terrible and discriminatory. It favors conformity in the best case, and quota filling in the worst.