Please read and sign this letter to the NY State Assembly.  

Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education (PLACE NYC) STRONGLY OPPOSES Assembly Bill A10731 introduced by NYS Assembly Member Mosley on July 8, 2020. Bill A10731 attempts to repeal the Hecht-Calandra Act and turn over control of the admissions criteria of our nation’s best high schools to the Mayor of New York City and the Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education (DOE).

Hecht-Calandra was passed in 1971 with bipartisan support. The law’s steadfast protection against the politicization of education is the reason the Specialized High Schools have remained amongst the top STEM schools in our nation despite the precipitous decline in quality across most NYC public schools in the past 20 years. The current effort to repeal it would not accomplish what the sponsors purport. Instead, it would only serve to hide the systemic failure of the DOE to appropriately educate all children and pit NYC’s diverse communities against each other.

PLACE NYC embraces and supports the sponsors’ vision for high-quality, rigorous, integrated education for all children, however, we instead urge the NYC DOE to:

1. Improve the curricula in all our K-8 schools as well as in the 400 high schools. This is the only way to give ALL NYC students access to the education that they deserve and achieve long term sustainable equity.

2. Reinstate accelerated academic programs that the DOE removed from low-income, disadvantaged neighborhoods. Quality education must start at 3-K and Pre-K. This would also expand the pipeline of students prepared for G&T, screened middle and high schools, the SHSAT & specialized high schools.

3. Double the number of specialized high schools to accommodate the increased demand for STEM education in every borough. It is inhumane to make students commute long hours to attend a school where they can receive a free and appropriate education.

4. Protect the specialized high schools and preserve the  competitive, objective and academic-focused examination (Hecht – Calandra) from the political whims of the Mayor and Chancellor.

The three original specialized high schools have been serving NYC families for nearly a century and along with the newer specialized high schools, they have helped generations of minorities, immigrants and low-income families achieve academic success and social mobility. Brooklyn Tech High School, the largest of the three original schools, was more than 50% Black and Hispanic for over 20 years, after the passing of Hecht-Calandra in 1971.

We urge you to OPPOSE bill A10731.

Instead, we urge you to support the following legislation:
A2240 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/a2240) sponsored by AM Rozic and AM Rebecca Seawright to provide universal screening for gifted and talented education.
 
A8435 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/a8435) sponsored by AM Peter Abbate, William Colton and AM Aravella Simotas for expansion of Gifted and Talented programs, free test preparation for 6/7th graders and or all 8th graders to take SHSAT.  

These bills will provide real change needed and direct resources to the neighborhoods that have been historically under-served by the previous and current Mayors and Chancellors so that all NYC children will have the best opportunities to reach their full academic potential, build their human capital and achieve true long term sustainable equity.

Sincerely,