In 1995 the Department of Education (then the Board of Education) started a program called the Specialized High Schools Institute with the goal of getting more black and Hispanic students into the city's top-tier specialized high schools (i.e. Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech). But it isn't quite working out the way it was expected to. more ›

The Times has released a study focusing on the racial breakdown of students admitted into the city's high profile specialized high schools. They found white and Asian students to be offered admission at nearly five times the rate of black and Hispanics who took the test. That has led to demographics such as Stuyvesant being comprised of 67% Asians and Bronx Science of only 4% blacks. The disparities do not improve greatly even when just looking at students who came out of special test prep programs. The paper points out that diversifying the schools is hampered by a recent Supreme Court decision only allowing income to be a factor in admission's decisions as well as simply "a dearth of blacks and Hispanics taking the test." As far as why they're not taking it, the paper talks to students who suggest factors such as lack of motivation to not knowing where the admission testing sites even are. more ›