Diversity issues persist in elite NYC high school admissions

NEW YORK - New York City's Department of Education is facing continuing scrutiny over the lack of diversity in the city's elite public high schools. 

While the D.O.E. touts a high percentage of students receiving their top-choice placements, data reveals significant disparities in racial representation. Many black and Latino students continue to be denied acceptance to their top choices. 

The underrepresentation of Black and Latino students in prestigious institutions like Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn Tech, and Bronx Science has been a long-term problem for the city. 

"10 percent of offers went to Black and Latino students, but those students represent about two-thirds of the city's public school population. I think what we've seen under Mayor Eric Adams is that they just haven't prioritized school integration," said Alex Zimmerman, an education journalist for Chalkbeat New York. 

New York State Senator John Liu, chairman of the New York City education committee, attributes part of the problem to the historical dismantling of accelerated learning programs in the early 2000s. 

"That's led to students, particularly in communities of color, not having that kind of accelerated coursework that would then empower them to do well on a specialized high school admissions test," Liu said.

FOX 5 New York did reach out to the Department of Education for comment but did not hear back.