By Gavin Healy in City Limits, 3 November 2023.
In New York City’s District 2, Gavin Healy, a member of the District’s Community Education Council, raised concerns about highly-ranked public elementary school Lower Lab’s lack of Black student enrollment for several recent school years. In 2020, Lower Lab and other screened elementary schools transitioned from admitting students based on a test administered to children as young as 48 months to a new system that relied on preschool-teacher recommendations. Healy emphasized how this trend exposes stark contrasts created by admission screenings in schools, highlighting the disparities in demographics across District 2’s schools.