This past Wednesday, Khan’s Tutorial was invited to participate in a press conference in Flushing with New York State Assemblyman candidate Phil Gim. Both Dr. Ivan Khan, President & CEO of Khan’s Tutorial, and Sami Rabb, Director of Community Outreach, spoke on a panel of Specialized High School graduates in their continued effort to keep the test the sole admissions criteria for entrance to top NYC high schools including Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech. The senior team has been actively meeting assemblyman, senators, and other elected officials to protect the Bangladeshi New York community and their pathways to NYC top high schools. Additionally, this past year KT offered 18 full scholarships for SHSAT prep to underrepresented students across New York City in an effort to address the racial disparity.
“Changing the admissions criteria will not help diversify the student bodies at these schools, and would in fact hurt underrepresented and new-immigrant families. If we really want to solve the problem we should establish higher education standards at middle schools and raise awareness about the exam across New York City,” said Sami Rabb.
Mr. Gim opened up the issue to parents in the community at the event at Flushing Mall with a question and answer portion. Parents agreed that the solution to the problem does not lie in admissions criteria.
“As a community, South Asians support the preservation of the SHSAT as a single admissions criterion to New York City’s Specialized High Schools. Any proposed changes to the exam would potentially compromise the 20 years of progress the Bangladeshi students have made at these top schools.”
For the past 20 years, Khan’s Tutorial’s mission has been to bring quality education at affordable costs. With 10 locations in the outer boroughs of New York City, including Brooklyn, Castle Hill, Parkchester, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, Sutphin, Richmond Hill, Astoria, Ozone Park, and Floral Park, Khan’s Tutorial primarily serves in assisting families in low-income neighborhoods. Since its inception in 1994 a total of 1,625 students have gained admission to New York City’s Specialized High Schools through Khan’s Tutorial.