On Dec. 18, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would remove all admissions screens for middle schools for at least one year, with schools instead using a random lottery to admit students.

In response, UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement:

The academic and geographic screens that proliferated during the Bloomberg era effectively limited the choices of tens of thousands of children. Removing those screens — even for one year — will help ensure that our system can provide all students with the maximum opportunity to succeed.