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A vote on a contract for the company that administers New York City’s elite, specialized high schools’ entrance exams has been delayed, sparking fears that the test won’t be given next year and potentially derailing kids already preparing for it.
The Panel for Educational Policy, the city Department of Education’s advisory board, was set to vote Wednesday on a new contract with NCS Pearson after an initial decision was postponed in October.
But it’s now been pushed back until at least December, when a town hall on the matter can be held, Chalkbeat reported.
Over 2,500 parents signed onto a letter this week urging the PEP to approve the nearly six-year, $17 million contract and avoid any disruptions to the already complicated admissions process.
“Failure to approve the Pearson contract will leave no other means to administer the test,” a letter from the parent group PLACE NYC warned.
The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test is the sole criterion for admission to eight of the city’s nine specialized high schools, which enroll more than 16,000 kids, per New York State law.
Pearson has administered the test since 1983, and few vendors have the capacity to offer it, according to DOE records.
“The SHSAT remains the last remnant of the once celebrated and revered NYC public education system,” a Queens parent of a seventh grader told The Post. “A system that produced legions of scholars, noble laureates, business leaders, authors and playwrights, in a day when merit was the litmus test on which achievement was based.”
The PEP consists of five borough president appointees, five Community Education Council president appointees, thirteen members appointed by the mayor and an independent chair.
Its governing responsibilities include approving any contracts costing over $1 million a year.
With two mayoral appointee seats vacant, it is unclear if there is a majority to approve the contract for the test, which has been criticized for being racially biased.
Efforts to phase out the SHSAT have been unsuccessful but an impending town hall could reignite the debate and proposals to reform the admissions process.
Mayor Adams has floated building new specialized high schools in each borough.
“We hope the mayor ensures the SHSAT will be available for 30,000 students who count on the opportunity to take the test,” said Yiatin Chu, co-President of PLACE NYC, which stands for Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education.
Eighth and ninth graders prepare for the exam years in advance and pour significant energy and resources into it, the Citywide Council on High Schools argued in a resolution passed last week.
“Student efforts should be acknowledged and entrance exams must be honored,” it said.
Pearson beat out only one other vendor and was chosen for its “smooth, intuitive, and innovative test platform,” according to DOE documents.
It also offered a lower price, and a plan to take the SHSAT digital.
