Contract for controversial entrance exam into ‘elite’ NYC public schools granted with panel vote

A five-year, $17 million contract for the company that administers the city’s controversial entrance exam for specialized high schools was finally approved Wednesday after a highly-anticipated, much-delayed vote.

The city Department of Education’s Panel for Education Policy voted during its Wednesday night meeting to renew the contract with education company Pearson, which has administered the state-mandated admissions exam for the eight elite schools since 1983.

The panel voted 14 to two — with four abstentions — to approve the renewal during the meeting at Sunset Park High School, which was packed with hundreds of students and parents advocating for the continuation of the entrance exam.

Students entering into the freshman class of 2026 will now be given a digital version of the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test — which is the sole criteria for entry into Gotham’s elite public schools like Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant, and Brooklyn Tech among others.

Pearson will also be tasked with developing and administering exams for five test cycles, beginning in October 2025, city documents reveal.

The test will eventually adopt a computer-adaptive model — which uses algorithms to personalize a test based on a student’s performance.

The PEP vote, which was delayed in October and then again in November, left the close to 30,000 families whose children had prepared for the exam anxious that they’d end up in education limbo.

Dozens of supporters of the entrance test spoke ahead of the vote as the meeting extended late into the night.

“[The SHSAT] protects a fair, objective admission process for specialized high schools — institutions that serve as a pathway for successful, hard-working students — many of whom come from immigrant families, like mine, low-income households and underserved communities,” one student testified.

Another said the test taught them not just academics but a lesson in dedication and goal-setting.

“For me, the SHSAT was more than just a test. It was a goal that motivated me to study harder and push my limits,” the student said.

Councilwoman Susan Zhuang, who represents the Asian-majority 43rd District in Brooklyn, said a number of students from her district don’t come from money — as critics of the test suggested — and are predominantly “migrants.”

“These kids are not from rich families, who have private tutors or private schools, the kids come from hard-working, low- and middle-class families,” she said during the public commentary period. “This test, in particular, is a lifeline for underrepresented and low-income immigrant students who can now access some of the best public schools in the country.”

Meanwhile, critics used the lengthy delays as an opportunity to once again decry the tests’ alleged racial bias.

One of the PEP panel members who abstained from the vote Wednesday night said there “can be a problem with [both] the system and the test.”

“When I look at the numbers and see 17 districts disenfranchised by a test where one district can have 548 offers, and the 17 other districts in this city add up to 528 combined. There is a problem,” dad of three public school kids Thomas Sheppard said. 

Another panel member, Jessamyn Lee said she voted against the exam contract because the panel hasn’t seen what the new test will look like.

“The test your children who are sitting in sixth grade are prepared for is not the test they will be administered,” Lee said, adding that a vote for it is “reckless and irresponsible.”

Last year, close to 26,000 students took the exam with just over 4,000 offered a seat.

Of that, 4.5% of offers went to Black students and 7.6% to Latino students, according to city data.

For years, critics have clashed with supporters of the SHSAT over whether specialized schools should only admit students based on a standardized test.

But ultimately, an “overwhelming” show of support clinched the contract’s safe passage.

PEP chair Greg Faulkner told The Post scrapping the test falls outside the purview of city officials, with the test mandated under state law.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio tried twice and failed each time to overturn the law.

Faulkner said he’d still raise concerns about the entrance exam with Albany through a separate committee.

For now, however, New York City kids prepping to get into the 2026 freshman class of these elite schools can breathe a sigh of relief.