NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – New York City will phase out its highly selective Gifted and Talented program in schools and replace it with a program offering accelerated instruction to all students, city officials said Friday.
It’s Mayor Bill de Blasio’s boldest move yet to desegregate the city’s schools and comes just three months before he leaves office.
City officials told the New York Times that there will be no Gifted and Talented admission exam administered to 4-year-olds next year.
Instead, the city will train all of its kindergarten teachers—some 4,000 educators—to accommodate students who need accelerated learning within their general education classrooms.
While current Gifted and Talented classes will remain in place until students enrolled in them graduate, the program will no longer be available to incoming kindergarten students next fall, with the goal of eliminating the program within a few years.
De Blasio has been under pressure from advocates for desegregation and from all three of his schools chancellors to do something about the program, which has been criticized as leading to inequality in the city's schools.
According to the New York Times, white and Asian students make up about 75% of the 16,000 students in gifted elementary school classes, though they are 25% of the overall school system.
Parents who support the program said they’re upset they weren’t given a voice in the mayor’s decision to scrap it.
De Blasio said the change will help tens of thousands get advanced instruction, instead of just a select few.
“The era of judging 4-year-olds based on a single test is over,” he said in a statement. “Every New York City child deserves to reach their full potential, and this new, equitable model gives them that chance.”
New York City currently has 80 elementary schools that offer some accelerated instruction. City officials have not detailed how much it would cost to expand that to all 800 elementary schools.
The plan, called Brilliant NYC, will require the hiring of additional teachers who are trained to provide that instruction.
“As a lifelong educator, I know every child in New York City has talents that go far beyond what a single test can capture and the Brilliant NYC plan will uncover their strengths so they can succeed,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter.
City education officials will hold community meetings in the coming months to discuss the changes with parents and teachers and roll out the full details of the plan in December, right before de Blasio’s term ends.
Details of the plan will likely need to be worked out by the next administration.
Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams, who's favored to win the election, has expressed skepticism about overhauling the gifted system and has said he wants to offer more gifted programs in low-income neighborhoods.
Adams “will assess the plan and reserves his right to implement policies based on the needs of students and parents, should he become mayor,” said his spokesperson Evan Thies.
“Clearly the Department of Education must improve outcomes for children from lower-income areas,” Thies said.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican mayoral candidate, called de Blasio’s announcement disgraceful and said he would immediately reimplement the program should he become mayor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.