Originally Posted by Val
No, that is not the summary of this thread. The situation is far too complicated to be described in such simplistic terms. I understand that not everyone can see this fact and will re-explain my position here.

Low-income students often need extra help in areas that middle and upper income students don't. I think it's important for a government (in this case, the school system) to provide that help. Hence my idea to make a new school with a lot of slots for low-income students.

Income-based admissions punishes parents for working. How do you define low-income in New York City? Suppose say you say below $70K, and suppose the excess value of attending a selective high school for four years is $40K. Then you are imposing a huge marginal tax rate right around an income of $70K, which is unfair to people earning slightly more.