Advanced placement exams rise

A record number of city students took Advanced Placement exams in the 2018 school year under Mayor de Blasio’s “AP for All” push to bring the classes to more schools, Hizzoner said Tuesday.

Under the ambitious plan, first outlined in 2015 by the mayor, 75% of city high school students were to have access to at least five AP classes by fall 2018 and all city high school students will have access to at least one AP class by fall 2021.

In a press conference at the Civic Leadership Academy in Queens, de Blasio said the program is already working.

A record 55,011 students took AP exams in 2018, de Blasio said, up from 49,364 in 2017.

And a record 28,573 students passed the AP exams, up from 25,815 in 2017, statistics show.

De Blasio said the program is moving mountains, especially in underserved neighborhoods where students were denied access to the tests in the past.

“If there ever was a tale of two cities, just look at Advanced Placement courses over the years in New York City and you’ll see, unfortunately, a perfect example of the divide,” he added.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was criticized for failing to provide AP classes in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, something de Blaiso vowed to address.

Students may take optional AP exams in order to earn the potential for early college credits. The tests are also used by colleges to evaluate student applications.

De Blasio’s AP for all program cost the city about $41 million for the 2017-18 school year and $51 million each year when fully phased in by fall 2021.