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New York City will begin eliminating 'gifted and talented' classes in public schools, as critics have maligned the program as perpetuating racial divides in the largest public school system in America.
Mayor Bill de Blasio first proposed the change in January and was expected to officially announce it Friday.
Under the outgoing mayor's plan, students in 'G&T' will be allowed to complete their current program, but the programs will not be offered in future semesters.
In 2019, NYC's School Diversity Advisory Group recommended phasing out gifted and talented programs, calling them "unfair," "unjust" and saying that they reinforced racial and classist segregation.
The New York Civil Liberties Union said at the time that 75 percent of kids in 'G&T' were either white or Asian, despite the fact that white and Asian students make up just 30 percent of NYC public schools enrollment.