New York City mayoral candidate proposes all-female science-based schools

Article here. Excerpt:

'New York should open competitive middle schools for girls who are interested in science and math as a way to close a gender gap that has tipped the balance in the city’s top tech high schools heavily toward boys.

Broached by Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the heat of the mayoral campaign, the next mayor, whoever that might be, should follow through on her idea to open five all-female science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM) middle schools, one in each borough, to help draw interested young women to the jobs of tomorrow.

Boys now outnumber girls by three-to-one at the city's high-school tech programs, even as jobs in the field are expected to grow about twice as quickly as other positions. Boys also claim about three of five seats at the city’s most competitive public high schools that determine admission exclusively by testing, including Stuyvesant and Bronx Science.'