Brooklynites To Discuss Mayor's Elite High School Diversity Plan

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Brooklynites will get a chance to share their thoughts on Mayor Bill De Blasio's controversial plan to diversify the city's top schools during a meeting Wednesday night in Park Slope. The plan would change the way students are chosen for eight specialized high schools, two of which are in Brooklyn.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at M.S. 51 on 5th Avenue and will begin with a presentation from the city Department of Education's Office of Student Enrollment about the plan, which would phase out the Specialized High School Admissions Test.

Speakers who sign up between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. can then offer their thoughts to the officials.

The council for school District 15, the Citywide Council on High Schools and Community Boards 6 and 7 will host the special session. A flyer about the meeting and a link to the proposal can be found here.

In Brooklyn, the plan would apply to Brooklyn Latin School in Williamsburg and Brooklyn Technical School in Fort Greene. Schools in the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and three in Manhattan are also included.

De Blasio has said the phase-out will help remove what has become a barrier for many black, Latino and low-income students from gaining a spot at the specialized schools. His plan would instead offer seats to the top 7 percent of students at each middle school and expand the Discovery program, which helps disadvantaged students with the admissions process.

Black and Latino students make up 68 percent, and low-income students 75 percent, of the city's high school population. But only 9 percent and 40 percent, respectively, are offered a seat in the specialized schools.

But the plan has faced pushback. Protesters over the summer contended that the plan is not the correct way to diversify the schools and could reduce their academic rigor. Last month, several organizations sued the city, claiming the expansion of the Discovery program will disproportionately harm Asian-Americans.

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