ASSEMBLYMAN RON KIM'S STATEMENT ON EDUCATION COMMITTEE VOTE REGARDING SHSATS REFORM

This morning, the Assembly Education Committee passed A.10427A by one vote, 16 to 13. Assemblyman Ron Kim issued the following statement:

"I am disappointed that the Education Committee voted to pass this measure. I voted no on A.10427A because this last minute politicization of the very serious issue of segregation and diversity in our public schools is merely political theatrics to distract from the truth: Under mayoral control, the quality of our K-8 public schools have failed to improve, something that is essential to achieving racial equity in our system.

Instead, in a last minute effort to score political points, the mayor is scapegoating the specialized high school exam as the problem for a systemic failure in our education system.

If the Chancellor and the Mayor were serious about reforming the test, he had eight years to discuss this with us, including last month, when NYC Council member Peter Koo and I personally brought up this topic with the Chancellor.

Furthermore, what's so troubling about City Hall's narrative around this topic is that THEY ARE DISCOUNTING THE FACT THAT ASIAN AMERICANS ARE ALSO People of Color, minorities and immigrants. We also want an equal opportunity and a fair chance. They are neglecting the fact that more Asian Americans in NYC live under the poverty line than any other immigrant groups. 

Any narrative that denies this has bought into and perpetuates the Model-Minority Myth against Asians, but it's even worse when done in the name of reform and social justice. The Mayor and Chancellors’s route for fixing the diversity problem divides communities of color against one another. Specialized High Schools have a diversity problem, but we can't fix it by targeting one group for the sake of others.

It's also beyond insulting for City Hall to suggest that Black and Latino kids are incapable of doing well on the SHSAT, or that just because one is Black or Latino, one is poor. The Mayor stated that soft efforts to diversify thus far have failed. What exactly were the efforts to increase Black and Latino student success on the SHSATs? Is this an acknowledgement that the city failed in its soft efforts? How is it fair for AAPIs to disproportionately bear the brunt of the Mayor’s failure?"