The Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of the New York City Council held a press conference Oct. 22 encouraging Black and Latino families to request gifted and talented testing for their pre-K through second-grade children.
The Department of Education’s gifted and talented programs provide an extremely high quality, free educational option to students who perform at a high level on the gifted and talented exam. This school year, students will be tested at their local public schools in late January and early February. However, children will only have this opportunity if parents take the first step and request the test by the Nov. 9 deadline.
“It’s a BLAC priority to ensure that the communities of color we represent have the same access to educational opportunities as the affluent or white population,” stated Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, in a press release.
“There is anecdotal as well as statistical evidence that proves what we know to be our reality—here in New York City, communities of color don’t have the same programs, resources and access to educational opportunities as the affluent or white population. All parents, irrespective of how much they make or the color of their skin, should have access to and the availability of the city’s DOE gifted and talented programs in their own ZIP code area. Anything less just perpetuates the educational gentrification of the New York City school system. Today, we start by asking parents to register their child to be tested for the DOE’s gifted and talented program by the November 9 deadline.”
According to a press release, Black and Latino participation in New York City DOE’s gifted and talented programs has declined from 27 percent to 22 percent since 2012. Moreover, all of the four community school districts without local gifted and talented programs are represented by BLAC members, further reducing awareness. The BLAC links low participation in gifted and talented programs to lower levels of participation and success on the extremely competitive entrance exams for New York City’s specialized high schools, such as Brooklyn Tech and Bronx Science. The caucus’ goal is to increase the number of children of color seeking and gaining access to this public educational resource.
“It is unacceptable that our city’s children of color are drastically underrepresented in gifted programs. Some Black and Latino parents don’t know that the program exists or what resources are available to prepare their child for the gifted and talented test.” said Council Member Andy King, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.
“We need to encourage the DOE and teachers to refer all eligible students for possible participation in the program so that no child of color misses out on this opportunity for higher educational development. I’m urging all parents in communities of color to have their child take the gifted and talented exam.”
To learn more about the gifted and talented admission, visit nyc.gov/schools/GT or call 718-935-2009.