Selective Public High Schools & DEI

Aug 21, 2025

Ian Rowe, CEO of Vertex Partnership Academies and author, teams up with Stefan Redding-Lollinger, Executive Director of Next100 and education policy advocate, to discuss the contentious role of selective public high schools. They examine the effectiveness of standardized entrance exams and whether these schools truly promote diversity and equity. The conversation probes the racial demographics of elite schools, advocating for holistic admissions processes that could level the playing field for underprivileged students and address systemic inequities in education.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Personal Path From Queens To Exam School

Ian Rowe described taking the specialized high school exam in NYC and gaining access to Bronx Science and Stuyvesant-era opportunities.
He credits that pathway with offering real escape and academic uplift from a low-performing zoned school.

INSIGHT

The 'Elite Illusion' Study

Stefan cited research (MIT/Harvard) showing specialized high schools produced little long-term advantage for students just above the admission cutoffs.
He argued many exam schools largely select students who would have succeeded regardless of attending the elite school.

ADVICE

Use Multiple Measures, Not One Test

Stefan recommends overhauling single-test admissions and using multiple measures that align with what schools actually value.
He urges admissions to account for students' varied exposures rather than equating test scores with merit.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Today's disagreement is about US Selective Public High Schools. These schools, also known as “Exam Schools”, are elite publicly funded high schools that have historically relied on a single entrance exam to determine admission. You’ve likely heard of many of them:

In Boston, you have Boston Latin, the oldest public high school in the country. Alums include Ben Franklin and Sam Adams. In New York: You’ve got Stuyvesant, whose alums include U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, and, of coruse, Timothy Chalamet. New York also has The Bronx High School of Science, whose alums have more Nobel prizes (9) than any other high school in the world. In Northern Virginia, there's Thomas Jefferson (or TJ), established in 1985 and one of the newest selective high schools. It has spent many years rated the #1 High School in the Country by U.S. News and World Report.

In the episode, we ask a number of questions: What is the purpose of these schools? Should they exist? Are standardized entrance exams the best path to meritocratic admissions? How concerned should we be about diversity and equity and whether student bodies are representative of their surrounding communities?

Ian Rowe is the CEO and cofounder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a virtues-based International Baccalaureate high school in the Bronx. He is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His most recent books is “Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for ALL Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power”

Stefan Redding Lollinger is the Executive Director of Next100, a multi-issue, progressive policy think tank. He’s a Scholar in Residence at American University and the first Director of a Century Foundation initiative to advance diversity and integration in schools and neighborhoods.

Questions or comments about this episode? Email us at podcast@thedisagreement.com or find us on X and Instagram @thedisagreementhq. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedisagreement.substack.com/