As a Hunter College High School alum, I was very interested to read Monica Disare’s article in Chalkbeat about Hunter College High School’s admissions procedures: Prestigious and public, the Hunter College schools charge hefty fees and admit few poor students
Disare writes:
<Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School> look very little like the city its students live in, though, a fact that has been true for many years. And as New York City engages in a lively debate about the lack of diversity at eight elite city high schools — with Mayor Bill de Blasio calling the lack of black and Hispanic students there “a monumental injustice” — Hunter’s disparities in some cases are far starker.
At the specialized high schools, 10 percent of admissions offers went to black and Hispanic students last year, and nearly half of the students attending are poor. But just 7 percent of Hunter high school students are black and Hispanic, and only 9 percent come from low-income families. At Hunter’s elementary school, less than 3 percent of students come from low-income families.
Still, Hunter has flown under the radar.
Hunter alums I know have divided opinions about whether and how the school’s admissions policies should change.