To the Editor:

“Mayor Raises Volume in His Call for Diversity at Specialized Schools” (news article, June 4):

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal regarding the elimination of the Specialized High School Admissions Test, or SHSAT, is shortsighted, unnecessary and potentially cruel, as without the proper preparation he’d be setting up many students for failure. Between the difficulty and the rigor of the courseloads offered, the city’s elite schools are called such for a reason.

The SHSAT, a screening test, helps determine who is most likely to enjoy success. The best way for the city to increase diversity at these schools is to improve the students’ primary school education and to provide greater access to quality, affordable test prep in advance of the SHSAT.

BRUCE ELLERSTEIN, NEW YORK

The writer is the parent of a student at a specialized high school.

To the Editor:

In the winter of 1977, I sat down in the wooden chairs in the auditorium of the original Stuyvesant High School to take the entrance exam. I was a byproduct of an elite public school system in Birmingham, Mich. My two brothers, sister and I had just moved to New York City. I was incredibly nervous as I knew the results of this single exam could change my entire life.

Forty-one years later, I am still benefiting from my four years at Stuyvesant. Yet how could it be that in 2018, in a city with nearly 70 percent black and Hispanic students, only 10 percent of those accepted at the specialized high schools are black or Hispanic? This fact is unacceptable.