To: Congresswoman Grace Meng,  Senator Joseph Addabbo, Senator Leroy Comrie, Senator John Liu,  Senator Toby Stavisky, Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, Assembly Member William Colton, Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi, Assembly Member Ron Kim, Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis, Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal, Assembly Member Nily Rozic,  Council Member Adrienne E Adams,  Council Member Barry Grodenchik, Council Member Robert Holden, Council Member Peter Koo, Council Member Karen Koslowitz, Council Member Eric Ulrich, Queens Borough President Sharon Lee


Dear Elected Officials,

We are Queens parents who have either 5th, 6th, 8th graders waiting to take the SHSAT and Mark Twain School tests, to apply to Townsend Harris and Baccalaureate High School, or have Pre-K/K grade children waiting to take the G&T tests. We are among tens of thousands NYC families who have been frustrated with the anxiety and uncertainty of our children's school placement for months. We hope you can help us to demand Mayor de Blasio and the Department of Education to open up registrations for the tests and school applications NOW.

We appreciate that DOE held six Town Hall engagement sessions in the Spring to listen to parents' opinions about the 196 screened middle schools and 126 screened high schools admissions, and the majority of parents wanted NO policy change because otherwise it would be totally unfair to all the students who want to attend schools that allow them to be properly challenged and adequately develop their academic potential and would completely destroy the quality of NYC public education.  

The SHSAT is protected by Hecht-Calandra. Furthermore, Joshua Wallack, the DOE Executive Chancellor stated on May 29, 2020 at the Staten Island hearing session that the SHSAT would NOT be impacted by COVID-19 and will be administered in October or November.

The specialized high schools, quality screen schools, plus the G&T programs are the hope for many NYC working families and low income families for their children to receive accelerated educations. They have been waiting for month after month for the test dates, and hear nothing but crickets from Tweed.

It is now November 11th, and the DOE has still NOT announced any dates for the above to-dos which matters to hundreds of thousands of working-class and low income NYC families. As the nation’s largest public school system, lacking a plan is not only irresponsible but also embarrassing.

The blended learning model is working and our schools and classrooms are safe thanks to the great efforts by DOE staff who keep schools sanitized and safely distanced.  The ISEE, TACHS, SAT and SSAT exams have been recently given nationwide including NYC, there is no excuse for further delaying the SHSAT and G&T exams!

We appreciate the support that you have been giving to the NYC public education. You are among our most trusted officials in the city and we are asking for your help again to amplify our voices for our children, our city, and our country's future!  Please urge the mayor and DOE to not take promised opportunities away from our students and to open the SHSAT/G&T registrations and the middle/high school applications immediately!

Thank you again for your support of educational excellence.