WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz

  Mott Hall V, A Shining Star in Our Community

You should know that I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Peter Oroszlany, the Principal of Mott Hall V, on Friday, August 19, 2016, in my District Office. Mott Hall V is a zoned school in the New York City Public School System.

It is important for you to know that Mr. Oroszlany, Mott Hall V's founding Principal who has been there for 12 years, took exception to a recent column I wrote celebrating the growing number of charter schools that serve families and children in my district, and their achievements.

Mr. Oroszlany claimed that while charter schools are able to pick and choose their students, Mott Hall V cannot reject any students, and educates public school children from grades 6 through 12 who reside in the area.

I appreciate Mr. Oroszlany's dedication to his students, and I need to echo how very proud we all are of the  85% - 90% graduation rate of Mott Hall V. This is tremendous!

I applaud the Mott Hall V’s graduates who have received full-freight scholarships and Posse Foundation Scholarships to Ivy League colleges and some of our nation’s top universities.

Some Mott Hall V students face serious challenges that include poverty, immigration status, and broken families, but due to great efforts of the school’s administration and its faculty, their students remain undeterred and still succeed in spite of the odds.

Mott Hall V is, in fact, one of the schools where many parents outside of my district wish their children could attend.

It is important for you to know that whenever I have an opportunity to allocate resources and capital funds to help the public schools in my Senatorial District, I do so with great eagerness.

You should also know that due to the ugly bureaucracy that exists in the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Dormitory Authority, there remain outstanding capital grant funds for public schools in my district that I allocated and were approved as far back as 2010.

This more than a five-year delay in disbursing the funds for our public schools is between the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Dormitory Authority. This is a disgrace, and hurts our public school children.

If our public school children did not have to wait 5 or 6 years for needed resources that seem to flow into the Charter Schools without delay, our public schools would be in better shape. If more available resources actually reached the desks of our public school children, then our public schools would be more competitive and our children would absolutely be prepared to compete.

Everyone who is helping our children to have the same opportunities as children in other areas of the city deserve to be celebrated, whether they are from public schools, charter schools, or private schools. Those who are not and who stand in the way of our children’s success should be publicly held accountable.

Ladies and gentlemen, when I write about the miseries of public schools in my Senatorial District here in the South Bronx, and what we need to do to help our children and families to have access to quality education, I need to also celebrate the great successes of Mott Hall V, its administration and faculty, students and families.

Congratulations to Mott Hall V!

I am Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.