New York City’s most competitive high schools admit students by a single standardized test, the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). For the 2026-27 academic year, in a district that is 62% Black and Hispanic students, they made up only 10% of the freshman class at the city's top high schools.

At Stuyvesant, the most selective public high school in the city, three of the 777 students admitted to the class of 2030 are Black. According to Chalkbeat, Asian American kids make up 18.7% of the district but are 56.5% of the elite schools admittance. For White students, 16% of the population, the acceptance rate is 23.5%.

The same pattern prevails in major urban districts nationwide that still enforce rigorous admissions standards for their magnet schools. What is going on here?

Racial makeup of elite schools shouldn't be our focus

Some on the left cry "racism," alleging the SHSAT is biased against Black and Hispanic students. The claim is both flimsy and bigoted.

For racism to explain these numbers, the test would have to be biased against Black and Hispanic students but also somehow favor Asian students. That's absurd – even Ibram X. Kendi's own........

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