HN regularly has threads full of complaints about how whiteboard interviews don't test the right things and unfairly harm a subset of people that doesn't correlate well to programming ability. It doesn't seem that implausible that the test the district is using has similar flaws in selecting gifted students
Sure, but the motivation here is explicit, and it's not about making the test more accurate.
To be fair, there are a variety of factions and motivations, and not everyone is race-baiting like Carranza. It's disturbing is that Carranza types are defended and given power within our cities, but there are also real issues with tests like the SHSAT, which are not as well-validated as other scholastic aptitude tests.