To Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, everything is about race.
“68% of all NYC public school students are Black or Latino,” the New York Democrat wrote in a post Tuesday on Twitter. “To only have 7 Black students accepted into Stuyvesant (a *public* high school) tells us that this is a system failure. Education inequity is a major factor in the racial wealth gap. This is what injustice looks like.”
68% of all NYC public school students are Black or Latino.
To only have 7 Black students accepted into Stuyvesant (a *public* high school) tells us that this is a system failure.
Education inequity is a major factor in the racial wealth gap. This is what injustice looks like. https://t.co/89NKvXk4vg
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 19, 2019
The political neophyte cited a New York Times article headlined, “Only 7 Black Students Got Into N.Y.’s Most Selective High School, Out of 895 Spots.”
Only a tiny number of black students were offered admission to the highly selective public high schools in New York City on Monday, raising the pressure on officials to confront the decades-old challenge of integrating New York’s elite public schools.
At Stuyvesant High School, out of 895 slots in the freshman class, only seven were offered to black students. And the number of black students is shrinking: There were 10 black students admitted into Stuyvesant last year, and 13 the year before.
But take a good look at the tables in The Times story. For 2019, the student demographics breakdown like this:
- Asian — 66%
- White — 22%
- Black, Hispanic, Other — 12%
So, yes, black and Hispanics did get in at a low level, but so, too, did whites, at least when compared to the majority, which are Asian.
Twitter, as expected, had a field day.
Lol! The school is only 22% white!
Congratulations, you've played yourself. https://t.co/2EKoRXX5zR
— Boomieleaks (@Boomieleaks) March 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/harrygato/status/1108023847700307969
https://twitter.com/WeTheInternetTV/status/1108041234730414080
It is called earning it. Stuyvesant has 74 percent Asian students. Do you want more white kids in the school? Your idea is if you cannot earn it you force the school to take unqualified kids.
This is not what injustice looks like. It is what merit looks like.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) March 19, 2019
So, as someone who worked in education, let me ask…
How do we ensure parental involvement, role modeling, etc. in our public schools? The number one issue I see is a lack of that, which is unfortunately heavily tired to lower incomes as well. To me, this is a key issue.— LoneWolf (@DougOfBorg) March 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/MiLindoEcuador/status/1108021058651783168
The Times does note that entry in to Stuyvesant is extremely hard. “Students gain entry into the specialized schools by acing a single high-stakes exam that tests their mastery of math and English. Some students spend months or even years preparing for the exam. Stuyvesant, the most selective of the schools, has the highest cutoff score for admission, and now has the lowest percentage of black and Hispanic students of any of New York City’s roughly 600 public high schools.”
Huh. Admitting students based on merit. What an odd concept.
