New York City's Department of Education will be bringing Advanced Placement (AP) classes to 55 high-needs schools across NYC. According to GothamSchools, NYC will spend $7 million to bring 120 AP classes to these 55 schools, broadly focused on science, technology, engineering and math. The College Board, which administers AP tests across the country, is working with the City to help the iniatitive succeed:
But the exams are optional, and nationally, fewer black and Hispanic who take AP classes sit for the exams at the end, according to Trevor Packer, a vice president at College Board. Locally, while students of all races have taken and passed more AP exams in recent years, black and Hispanic students have continued to pass far less often than white and Asian students.
