Khymani James: “Why do exam schools exist in the first place?”
A student leader asks tough questions about the exam school controversy — and answers them
Khymani James, the student representative to the School Committee, had a lot to say during the discussion of the Working Group’s proposal for exam school admissions this year, and it wasn’t only about the proposal.
He raised wider and deeper questions about the direction and priorities of the Boston Public Schools: Should there be exam schools? Are they really better than other schools? What would it take to make exam schools unnecessary?
We plan to post a range of views as the BPS community moves beyond the one-year admissions plan to a longer-range look at the schools. Send your ideas to schoolyardnews@gmail.com.
To start that series, here are excerpts from what Khymani James said at the October 8 and 21 School Committee meetings:
October 8:
I really do like the recommendation. In these challenging times, I think administering a test for admissions would be a tad ludicrous and definitely inequitable. And I appreciate the Working Group’s hard work around that issue.
[But James proposed two changes in the proposal:]
Prioritizing students who have been in BPS for pretty much all their lives, so they can get seats in those schools, I think is very important.
Also, I’d like to see in the recommendation something that has to do with getting to know the actual student beyond their grades. I think focusing on their GPA and their standardized test scores perpetuates a stigma in society that students are just a number, or that really their grades are the only things that matter. It would be really interesting to see some sort of essay or letter of recommendation, where the people reviewing these applications aren’t just seeing grades, but saying, “This is a student who can bring compassion, integrity, advocacy to their communities.”
And then I do think that we’re asking the wrong question.
Why do exam schools exist in the first place?
Differences between exam and non-exam schools
There’s a [belief] in BPS that if you are a student [who] goes to an exam school, you are automatically smarter than the student who doesn’t go to an exam school. But really, I go to an exam school, I go to Boston Latin Academy. And my friends and I speak about this all the time: The only real difference is quality versus quantity.
I compared my work with that of a student who goes to Fenway my sophomore year. I had more work, but their work was more quality. Their work actually challenged the intellect. My work was more busy work.
And then when you dig deeper into the situation, I think the real question that needs to be asked is, Why is it that we cannot give the same resources that exam schools get to other schools as well? Historically, exam schools have gotten more money. Exam schools are looked at as college preparatory schools. Why aren’t other schools in BPS given that same title?
And it’s because they’re underfunded and under-resourced. If all schools were equally resourced and funded, if all students and all teachers were given the resources that they needed to thrive in their communities, and thrive in their learning environments, there’d be no need for exam schools.
“Exam schools, exam schools, exam schools.”
When I was back in the eighth grade, I went to UP Academy Boston. There were a lot of teachers in my school that were saying, “Exam schools, exam schools, exam schools.”
And I was like, “Well, what about these other schools?”
And they didn’t really provide any reasoning, they just kept saying, “Exam schools, exam schools, exam schools.”
I want eighth graders, applying to high schools two to three years from now, to look at the list in front of them and say, “I can pick any of these high schools because all of them are great, they’re all going to offer me extraordinary opportunities. I’m going to thrive excellently in all of them.”
I want them to have that mindset. I don’t want them to just look at the three exam schools.
“Budget season is coming up”
And that comes with the district having to fund those other schools that aren’t exam schools. You know, budget season is coming up, and I do think we need to keep this conversation in mind. How are we going to adequately and efficiently and effectively fund our schools so that teachers and students are given the resources to use and implement, in their curriculum, in their everyday teaching lives, in their everyday learning lives, to truly become successful? Not just successful in the classroom, but able to apply that material to their society, to their communities.
That’s really the goal.
October 21:
The current exam school admissions process with the standardized tests was highly unfair to Black and Brown students. Black and Brown students like myself had to work 10 times as hard as their White counterparts to get into these exam schools, and to succeed in a society full of bigotry, racism, and many White folk who believe they were entitled to any and everything.
I remember standing outside of Excel High School in South Boston at the age of 13 with many other students as we waited to be let in to begin the test. I was sitting with a friend of mine, and both of us were extremely nervous, sweating almost.
A revealing conversation
We came into contact with a White student and we began small talk. He said he had taken over five practice tests and completed several classes in preparation for the test. Meanwhile, my friend and I had barely gotten any prep for the test at all, but instead, had to study everything and anything we could by going online and going through siblings have friends who attended exam schools.
I hear many people say the test won’t be fair this year during COVID. Yes, but let’s not forget, the test was never fair.
