More blacks, Latinos accepted to elite schools

The number of black and Latino students accepted to eight of New York City’s highly selective high schools increased 14 percent from last year, according to newly released data from the Department of Education.

Admission to one of the specialized schools, like The Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical High School or Stuyvesant High School, is determined by the results of the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. Approximately 28,000 students took the test, but only 5,360 students received an offer, according to the DOE.

Among those students that took the test, more than 730 black and Hispanic students were offered admission at specialized schools, compared to 642 in 2011 and 653 in 2010.  

Black students received 6 percent of the offers, and Latinos accounted for 8 percent.

Of all of the students that the specialized high schools admitted, Asian students were offered the most entries, with 2,490, or 46 percent. White students were offered 23 percent of the slots.

One education official told Metro that the numbers represented definite progress, but that the DOE has more work to do.

NYC’s crown jewel of schools

At Lower Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, considered by many to be New York City’s crowned jewel of schools, 51 black and Hispanic students got offers, more than double the number in 2010 and 2011. The number was also more than in any year from 2007 to 2011. Asian students were the majority of accepted students, securing 576 spots at the school.  White students were offered 184 places in the incoming class.        

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