This archive report was first published on 18 November 2019.
Privilege and School Tours ¶
Getting into one of New York City's elite high schools is a highly competitive process, and those who can afford to pay for admission consultants have a significant advantage.
According to an education reporter for The New York Times, Eliza Shapiro, the line of parents waiting to get a tour of Beacon High School in Manhattan is a tangible symbol of the inequality and craziness of the admission process for public high schools.
Shapiro visited the line last month and noted that it went down West 43rd Street, across 10th Avenue, up West 44th Street, across 11th Avenue, and back up West 43rd. The line was so long that parents who paid $200 for a newsletter written by a local admission consultant, Elissa Stein, got reminders about the application process, including the importance of showing up two hours early for the 4:30 p.m. tour.
One parent, Jill Taddeo, said, 'The Department of Education should be doing what Elissa Stein is doing, for free.' A spokeswoman for the department responded that consultants have a financial incentive to raise concern about the admissions process.
Shapiro noted that the lines surrounding Beacon and other elite high schools are a living symbol of the anxiety, competition, and inequality that define New York's segregated public school system.
She also pointed out that the fact that parents are paying $200 for a newsletter that gives them information about the process tells us a lot about how difficult this process is to navigate for pretty much everyone.
The current system, which allows students to apply to up to 12 high schools anywhere in New York City, was implemented in 2003 by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The goal of the system is to give students who live in neighborhoods with underperforming high schools a chance to attend better ones.
However, the changes have created a lucrative marketplace for education information, and parents who can more easily gain access to that information have an advantage.
