Eighth-grade students at a graduation rehearsal at Pablo Casals Middle School in the Bronx this month. Many of the students took admissions tests for New York’s elite specialized high schools. Damon Winter/The New York Times

Across the country, local efforts are at last underway to integrate schools that remain profoundly segregated more than half a century after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Nowhere is that work more important than New York City, where the school system is not only the nation’s largest but also its most segregated.

After largely ignoring this reality for four years, Mayor Bill de Blasio has now taken an important step: He has put forward a plan to integrate eight of the city’s specialized high schools, storied institutions like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech. These schools have, for generations, set those lucky enough to attend on paths to success, to middle-class security, to rewarding careers and even to Nobel Prizes.

Offers to Specialized High Schools, Current Program vs. Proposed Plan 200 offers 180 M.S. 54 23% black and Hispanic 160 86 schools would receive fewer offers to New York City's specialized high schools 476 schools would receive more offers (or receive them for the first time) Current 150 offers 140 Proposal 19 offers 120 100 Each line represents one middle school 80 60 I.S. 61 91% black and Hispanic Proposal 45 offers 40 Current Fewer than 6 offers 20 Fewer than 6 Schools with lower shares of black and Hispanic students Schools with higher shares of black and Hispanic students 200 offers 180 M.S. 54 23% black and Hispanic 86 schools would receive fewer offers to New York City's specialized high schools 476 schools would receive more offers (or receive them for the first time) 160 Current 150 offers 140 Proposal 19 offers 120 100 Each line represents one middle school 80 60 I.S. 61 91% black and Hispanic Proposal 45 offers 40 Current Fewer than 6 offers 20 Fewer than 6 Schools with lower shares of black and Hispanic students Schools with higher shares of black and Hispanic students 200 offers 180 M.S. 54 23% black and Hispanic 86 schools would receive fewer offers to New York City's specialized high schools 476 schools would receive more offers (or receive them for the first time) 160 Current 150 offers 140 Proposal 19 offers 120 100 Each line represents one middle school 80 60 I.S. 61 91% black and Hispanic Proposal 45 offers 40 Current Fewer than 6 offers 20 Fewer than 6 Schools with lower shares of black and Hispanic students Schools with higher shares of black and Hispanic students 86 schools would receive fewer offers to New York City's specialized high schools 200 offers 180 M.S. 54 23% black and Hispanic 160 Current 150 offers 140 476 schools would receive more offers (or receive them for the first time) Proposal 19 offers 120 100 Each line represents one middle school 80 I.S. 61 91% black and Hispanic 60 Proposal 45 offers 40 Current Fewer than 6 offers 20 Fewer than 6 School’s share of black and Hispanic students Lower share Higher share 86 schools would receive fewer offers to New York City's specialized high schools 476 schools would receive more offers (or receive them for the first time) 200 offers 180 M.S. 54 23% black and Hispanic 160 Current 150 students 140 Proposal 19 students 120 100 Each line represents one middle school 80 I.S. 61 91% black and Hispanic 60 Proposal 45 students 40 Current Fewer than 6 students 20 Fewer than 6 School’s share of black and Hispanic students Lower share Higher share Note: Detailed data on schools with fewer than six offers is not made available. Schools with fewer than six offers under both the current program and the proposed plan are not shown, but are included in the total count. Source: N.Y.C. Department of Education.

These schools have a vital mission, to challenge the city’s sharpest young minds. But they are failing in that endeavor, because they all but shut out black and Latino students, leaving untold numbers of New York’s brightest children behind.

Black and Latino students make up nearly two-thirds of the city’s 1.1 million school children. Yet, of the 5,067 offers of admission to specialized schools this year, 51.7 percent went to Asian students and 26.5 percent to white students. Latino and black students received 6.3 and 4.1 percent of the offers, respectively. At Stuyvesant, the most sought-after of the schools, just 10 of the 902 students offered admission were black.

Share of Black and Hispanic Students Specialized high schools Current program 10% Proposed plan 45 All N.Y.C. public high schools 68 Specialized high schools Current program 10% Proposed plan 45 All N.Y.C. public high schools 68 Specialized high schools Current program 10% Proposed plan 45 All N.Y.C. public high schools 68 Source: N.Y.C. Department of Education.

A single, three-hour test known as the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test is the sole screen for admission to the eight schools. This system arose from efforts to integrate these schools back in 1971. Opponents of those efforts lobbied for a state law, known as Hecht-Calandra, that requires the three largest schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech — to use only the exam. Over the past four decades, the exclusionary process spread as the five smaller specialized schools also adopted the exam as the sole admissions criterion.

New York’s elementary and middle schools do not prepare children for the test, all but ensuring that students seek out extensive test preparation. Many Asian and white students have done so for thousands of dollars apiece. Black and Latino students are likely to walk in with little or no test preparation.

That was the experience of Wyatt Perez, who was valedictorian of his Bronx middle school but didn’t do well enough on the test to attend a specialized school. Mr. Perez, now 17 and headed to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, said he remembered being given a book on the exam and left to study on his own. “I couldn’t find anyone to help me with it,” he said. “I had to look at videos on YouTube.”

Epiphane Lokossou, who emigrated to the United States from West Africa in 2010, said he couldn’t afford test preparation for his 13-year-old son Boris, who attends Lafayette Academy, a middle school in Manhattan.

Boris Lokossou took the SHSAT last year but didn’t receive an offer. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Brian Zager, Lafayette Academy’s principal, described Boris as a standout student. But when he took the exam last year, he didn’t receive an offer from a specialized high school. Mr. Lokossou said the admissions process had failed to capture his son’s true potential. “It’s just one test,” he said. “It does not define who he is.”

Of all elite public high schools in the country, only New York’s use a single exam for admission. Researchers and others have said this approach is less predictive of success than grades, particularly for black and Latino students.

Who Gets In? The SHSAT favors students who do well in either math or English but not necessarily both. Students with more balanced scores can miss the cutoff for admission. Math percentile 100th Rejected students had more balanced scores. Accepted students performed very well on one section of the test. 80 60 40 Verbal percentile 40 60 80 100th Math percentile 100th Rejected students had more balanced scores. Accepted students performed very well on one section of the test. 80 60 40 Verbal percentile 40 60 80 100th Math percentile Rejected students had more balanced scores. 100th Accepted students performed very well on one section of the test. 80 60 40 Verbal percentile 40 60 80 100th Math percentile Rejected students had more balanced scores. 100th Accepted students performed very well on one section of the test. 80 60 40 Verbal percentile 40 60 80 100th Note: Based on a study by Joshua Feinman of SHSAT scores close to the cutoff for admission to Bronx Science in 2006. Source: National Education Policy Center.

Mayor de Blasio has vowed to replace the test with a system, to be phased in over three years, that would eventually admit the top 7 percent of students from every middle school, based on a combination of grades and performance on state exams. City officials say that if the plan is implemented, the specialized high schools would be about 45 percent black and Latino.

The plan is far from radical. The University of Texas used a similar approach to maintain diversity when a court struck down its use of affirmative action years ago. New York City education officials estimate that students who would be admitted under the plan would have an average state test score of 3.9 out of 4.5, compared to 4.1 for students currently enrolled in the specialized schools. The average GPA, 94, would be the same.

Average Grade of Students Receiving Offers Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from middle schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 Each middle school, sized by number of offers 80 75 200 offers 50 70 65 60 55 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Share of black and Hispanic students Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from middle schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 Each middle school, sized by number of offers 75 200 offers 50 70 65 60 55 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Share of black and Hispanic students Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from middle schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 Each school, sized by number of offers 75 200 offers 70 50 65 60 55 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Share of black and Hispanic students Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 Each school, sized by number of offers 75 200 offers 70 50 65 60 55 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 75 70 200 offers 50 65 60 55 School is more black/Hispanic Students got better grades 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from middle schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 Each school, sized by number of offers 75 200 offers 70 50 65 60 55 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 80 75 70 200 offers 50 65 60 55 School is more black/Hispanic Students got better grades 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Under the current program, students receiving offers to specialized high schools have high grades, but are mostly from middle schools with smaller shares of black and Hispanic students. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 Each school, sized by number of offers 80 75 200 offers 70 50 65 60 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 55 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Under the proposed plan, students receiving offers would come from more diverse middle schools. The average grade among students offered admission would remain high. Avg. grade 100% 95 90 85 200 offers 50 80 75 70 65 60 Students got better grades School is more black/Hispanic 55 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Share of black and Hispanic students Note: Detailed data on schools with fewer than six offers, many of which have a higher share of black and Hispanic students, is not made available. The average grade among students offered admission from those schools was 93.9 percent. Source: N.Y.C. Department of Education.

Opposition has been swift and fierce, much of it from some alumni of the specialized schools, who have said the mayor’s plan would somehow lower the quality of education or “set kids up for failure.” The very intensity of the response underscores how formative an experience it is to attend a specialized high school — an experience that for years has been unfairly denied so many black and Latino New Yorkers.

Some alumni — black alumni — have described in painful detail their isolated experiences in the schools. They include Mr. de Blasio’s son, Dante, who attended Brooklyn Tech. In a Daily News op-ed article earlier this month, he said his experience was marred by racial slurs and slights that included a teacher laughing at a black student who said she wanted to be a doctor.

In recent weeks, some Asian groups have protested outside City Hall and in Brooklyn, saying that Asian students will lose seats. Asian children are about 16 percent of the district’s student body but a majority at schools like Stuyvesant. Many come from families that have scrimped on essentials like food to pay for test prep. Such objections are understandable, but they don’t change the fact that the admissions policy is flawed and unfair to other children.

The majority of students graduating from Stuyvesant High School this year were white or Asian. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Some opponents of the plan have also said the city should focus on improving education at schools already attended by black and Latino students. (Of course, the city ought to do that, too.) This argument underscores that the current testing regime is not “race-blind,” since it can’t be separated from the reality of unequal schools and the disadvantages of generations of poverty and racism.

In an interview, the city’s new schools chancellor, Richard Carranza, argued that relying on a single test harmed all New Yorkers, including Asian families who spend scarce resources on test prep. “I’m sorry that the system has forced you to spend your time, your treasure on preparing your kids for that test,” he said. “Help is on the way.”

How Would You Do on the SHSAT? Here are five questions from a practice version of the SHSAT prepared by the N.Y.C. Department of Education. Can you answer them correctly without any preparation? 1. In the passage below, which of these is the most precise revision for the words “talked to some people who did the best in the contest”? “During a nightly-news segment about a cooking contest, a reporter talked to some people who did the best in the contest.” conversed with some of the people who won the contest spoke to the three contestants who did well discussed the contest with some of the winners interviewed the top three contestants Submit Explanation The question asks for the most precise revision for the words talked to some people who did the best in the contest. Option A (“conversed with some of the people who won the contest”) and Option C (“discussed the contest with some of the winners”) do not precisely state how many people the reporter interviewed. Option B (“spoke to the three contestants who did well”) specifies the number of people interviewed but uses the imprecise phrase “who did well.” Option D is the only option that precisely states the reporter’s action (“interviewed”) as well as who exactly the reporter interviewed (“the top three contestants”). Next 2. How many positive even factors of 48 are greater than 24 and less than 48? 0 1 2 12 Submit Explanation List the factors of 48: 1 and 48, 2 and 24, 3 and 16, 4 and 12, 6 and 8. There are no factors greater than 24 and less than 48. Next 3. Which edit should be made in this sentence? “The animal shelter, which is located on Midway Street, is looking for volunteers to help with a variety of tasks, such as walking dogs cleaning kennels, hand-feeding newborn kittens, and supporting the pet adoption process.” delete the comma after shelter insert a comma after volunteers insert a comma after dogs delete the comma after kennels Submit Explanation The sentence in the box needs a comma to separate items in a series. Option A (“delete the comma after shelter”) would remove the necessary comma before the nonrestrictive clause “which is located on Midway Street.” Option B (“insert a comma after volunteers”) is incorrect because while the phrase that ends with the word “volunteer” can stand on its own as an independent clause, a comma is not needed before the explanation of what the volunteers would help do. Option D (“delete a comma after kennels”) would delete a necessary comma between two items in a series. Option C is the only option that would place a necessary comma to separate items “walking dogs” and “cleaning kennels” in the series. Next 4. In the figure below, PQRS is a parallelogram. What is the value of x? x R Q 72 P S x R Q 72 P S Submit Explanation First, find the measure of angle PQR. The measure of angle PQR is equal to the measure of angle PSR. So, the measure of angle PQR is also 108.

108 + 90 + x = 360.

198 + x = 360.

x = 162 Next 5. A box contains 5 strawberry candies, 3 banana candies, and 2 orange candies. If Braden selects 2 candies at random from this box, without replacement, what is the probability that both candies are not banana? 1/15 9/100 7/15 49/100 Submit Explanation The total number of candies in the box is 5 + 3 + 2 = 10. The number of candies that are not banana is 5 + 2 = 7. The probability of the first candy not being banana is 7/10. Now, out of 9 candies, there are 6 candies left that are not banana. The probability of the second candy not being banana is 6/9. Multiply these two probabilities to get the solution: 7/10 x 6/9 = 42/90 = 7/15. 1 2 3 4 5

The city has said that it’s considering adding seats in the schools, to mitigate some concerns. It might also consider increasing outreach to show families other excellent options, including schools like Edward R. Murrow High School and Midwood that draw students from around the city through competitive admissions.

For the plan to succeed, the city will surely need to increase remedial and enrichment programs at the specialized high schools, to serve students who were at the top of their classes but whose middle schools may not have prepared them for the rigor of a Stuyvesant.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to the mayor’s full plan is political, since it will require overturning Hecht-Calandra. That would take forceful lobbying from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has so far signaled only lukewarm support.

In the meantime, there’s nothing to stop the mayor from implementing those parts of his plan that don’t require state action. He could begin with the five specialized high schools not covered by the 1971 state law.

Mr. de Blasio could also consider applying the plan, or something similar, to the city’s other competitive high schools, many of which are also failing to admit significant numbers of black and Latino students.

It is a bitter irony, or just a deeply damning fact, that the spirit of Jim Crow would prove so stubborn in a city whose leaders pride themselves on their enlightened politics. Without aggressive action, New York will continue to fail its black and Latino students, a waste of their potential and its own.