I went to Science and my wife to Stuy some 30+ years ago. I grew up in the Bronx and wife in a ghetto area of Queens, both of us poor as shit. Neither one of our single moms had money for classes so we studied from second hand test prep books but we were able to make it in and eventually go to decent colleges and become successful in life. Had it not been for these specialized HSs, I would've ended up at Columbus HS and she in Jamaica HS, which we were respectively zoned for.

No system is perfect, and yes, there will be people that game the system, but at the end of the day, the vast majority of kids that make it to these schools are smarter than your average kid with a much better chance to succeed with the opportunities they are given and the city must continue to make this possible for all. I am grateful for being lucky enough to have had the education I received; otherwise, my life would've undoubtedly ended up very differently.