My ideas for a better system
- make sure the exam is testing what leads to success at these schools; it is not clear to me how a single test score can differentiate between students how would do well at Stuyvesant versus Lehman American Studies. The schools are so different.
- make the process clearer to parents. I know what to do; I just don’t understand how decisions are made. I have a better understanding of the more subjective private school admissions process than I do of the public one.
- ensure there are good choices in all neighborhoods so students do not have to travel such long distances to get a good education. I was stunned to learn recently that a high school located 2 blocks from my house in Yorkville does not have any students from the neighborhood; in fact it has few students from Manhattan.
- let the parents and students decide. Have the schools compete for applicants and enrolled students the way colleges do instead of the forced ranking system.

That envelope cannot come fast enough.
Waiting in Yorkville,
Jennifer