Active: Federal lawsuit challenges race-based changes to New York City’s Specialized High Schools admissions
Yi Fang Chen came to the United States from China in 1996 as a teenager, speaking little English. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University and today works as a data scientist in New York City. Like many immigrant parents, Yi Fang has poured her energy into building a better life for her family—and she wants the same opportunity for her children.
Yi Fang’s oldest son recently took the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), the competitive exam that serves as the gateway to New York City’s eight elite Specialized High Schools. These world-class institutions have produced many Nobel laureates and launched countless students into top colleges and successful careers. Yi Fang’s son set his sights on Stuyvesant High School, one of the most prestigious public high schools in the nation.
He scored a 558 on the SHSAT, which is in approximately the 95th percentile. It would have earned him a seat at Stuyvesant the year prior. But this year, the cutoff was 561, and his application was denied.
Under New York state law, admission to the Specialized High Schools must be based “solely and exclusively by taking a competitive, objective and scholastic achievement examination, which shall be open to each and every child in the city of New York.” State law also allows for the Discovery program, which historically offered a small number of seats—less than 5% of total admissions—to low-income students who scored just below the cutoff.