Gao Kao in New York City – A Look At Stuyvesant High School

I am sure that the title of this piece got reader’s attention. The reason for this piece is because I am sick and tired of all the distorted views, in my opinion, of merit based college admission policy in China. In general, U.S.commentators describe GaoKao , the national college entrance exam in China, as an exercise in rote memory. Implied in these comments is that students who pass these tough exams do not have critical thinking, creativity or imagination. How wrong they are because there is a 100-year example of GaoKao school in the heart of U.S. media, New York City. It is the Stuyvesant High School, from which I graduated in 1957.Stuyvesant High School is the oldest of nine merit based high school in New York City. It is oriented towards STEM subjects. Admission to Stuyvesant involves passing the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test .As the test is for high school entrance, the subject covered is only for English and Math. We may say that these subjects are even more susceptible to rote memory.So what is the record of its graduates? From Wikipedia:“Stuyvesant has contributed to the education of several Nobel laureates,winners of the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize. Notable scientists among Stuyvesant alumni include mathematician Paul Cohen (1950),   string theorist Brian Greene (1980), physicist Lisa Randall (1980),   and genomic researcher Eric Lander (1974). Other prominent alumni include civil rights leader Robert Parris Moses, entertainers such as Thelonious Monk (1935),   and actors Lucy Liu (1986), Tim Robbins (1976), and James Cagney (1918), comedian Paul Reiser (1973), sports anchor Mike Greenberg (1985), and NBA basketball player Jack Molinas (1949). In business, government and politics, former United States Attorney General Eric Holder (1969) is a Stuyvesant alumnus, as are Senior Advisor to President Obama David Axelrod (1972), former adviser to President Clinton Dick Morris (1964).”

So Stuyvesant  graduates are not all nerds in STEM but also in entertainment (Lucy Liu), in sports and in government. Achievements in these fields surely demonstrated that Stuy graduates do not lack critical thinking skill or creativity. Some even showed political savvy played key roles in U.S. Presidential elections — democrats, of course. In the past, concern about the small number of African-Americans and Hispanics in Stuy’s student body has led efforts to modify this merit based admission policy. Alumni and parents objected and a law, the Hecht-Calandra Act, was passed by New York State to assure that merit-based testis the only method that these schools may use to determine admission. I personally don’t know about the details of GaoKao except that my parents passed similar exams in China during the Republican days. From Wikipedia: “Chinese literature, Mathematics, and English language (in most provinces) are required for all students. In addition, students have to choose between two streams, social-science- oriented area and natural-science-oriented area. Students who choose the former take an additional paper on history, politics and geography, while those who choose the latter take an additional paper on physics, chemistry and biology.”Just by looking at the subjects, we can see that subject understanding, logical skills, etc., are needed to enable a student to score high on GaoKao. Rote memory learning will not get you a high GaoKao score. Merit based education system flatten the playing field for societal mobility, a notable feature in Chinese society and in New York City in a sense.60-70 years ago, Stuyvesant’s student population was predominantly Jewish,about 70%. There were only three of us Chinese-Americans, and a few African Americans. Now about 60% of Stuy’s student population is Asians.

EVEN MORE NOTABLE, OVER HALF OF THESE STUDENTS ARE FROM LOW INCOME FAMILIES AND QUALIFIES THE STUDENTS FOR SUBSIDIZED LUNCH.

A truly societal equalizer. I can only speculate what happened to the large Jewish student population. The percentage of Jewish population in New York City has not changed so that is not the reason for decline. However, Jews are now more affluent; they are reported to constitute about 27% of the student population in Harvard. So I guess that they must be going to private High Schools. In that sense they are probably no different than the well-to- do Chinese who are sending their children to U.S. to study and thus avoiding the competitive pressure of GaoKao at home. Here to hope that merit-based examination for top schools remain in place to assure a more equal opportunity society. There are already too many barriers for less advantage citizens to attain their full potential. It is sad that U.S. commentators continue to denigrate merit-based system such as GaoKao and thus merit-based admission policies. Perpetuating this belief could hurt the U.S. in the long run; but of course immigration of skilled workers has helped the country to over come this weakness.

Art Chen

(Ed’s. note:  We welcome your thoughts and comments for publication.  They may be edited for clarity and brevity.)

It was great speaking with [Ron Pinkus] last Friday and recalling memories of those formative years at Stuyvesant High School which are indelibly etched into my psyche. It’s hard to forget the afternoon and morning sessions which governed our daily schedules and set us apart from other high schools and former companions, the 43 minute train ride from Pelham Parkway in the Bronx to 14th Street with rush hour on the IRT, and the blaring of songs like Eddie Fisher’s Oh My Papa, emanating from 14th Street record shops that ultimately gave way to songs like Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill and the emergence of Rock n Roll, perhaps the most revolutionary cultural event in our young lives during the 1950’s.

Although in recent years I haven’t been in touch with my Stuyvesant roots much, over the years I have crossed paths with many Stuyvesant alumni, while living in Stony Brook, Long Island, Toronto, Canada, San Francisco and the Bay area, Tampa, and finally Boston, where I now reside with my wife, Tricia. After graduating Stuyvesant in ’57, I attended City College, which, of course, had a large Stuyvesant contingent. Joel Newberger who also graduated in ’57 was a stellar physics student in at least one of my classes, and when I went on to Yale to pursue a Ph.D., Henry Maltz, ’57, matriculated the same year and obtained a Ph.D., and then an M.D. and became a physician. At the Syntex Corporation, where I spent 12 years after leaving a faculty position at Stony Brook University, the company’s power structure was dominated by Paul Freiman (Chairman), John Fried (President), and Neil Flanzraich (Chief in-house Counsel, all distinguished alumni.

I have fond memories of many of my classmates. John Nardi and Ira Schlansky, who have both passed away, and Larry Warshaw who I have lost track of, were good buddies. I was only able to get to the tail end of the 50th Anniversary reunion, but it was nice to see Bob Millman, Joel Newberger, Roger Moses(deceased) and Alan Berkowitz(deceased), among many others at the dinner that followed. I am looking forward to the 60th reunion, especially since my wife and I have recently bought a coop apartment near Lincoln Center and plan to make it something of a primary residence after I retire from a biotech venture in cancer immunology that I am currently pursuing.

Best to all,
Allen Krantz

We thoroughly enjoyed the recent get-together of the Stuyvesant ’57 Committee at the Cottage restaurant, which is not far from the original Stuyvesant H.S. A good time was had by the twenty-one alumni who attended the dinner.

The reunion committee is to be commended for being the ringmaster which plays the most active role in organizing these events. It is even entertaining to listen to  the latest report about  the leadership of the Stuyvesant H.S. Alumni Association. We always look forward to the camaraderie, good food and conversation at these get-togethers. Hey reunion committee when are you scheduling the next get-together?

Your friends,
Charles & Phil Rodman