Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza announced the next steps in the City’s school diversity plan – approving a diversity plan to increase middle school diversity in Brooklyn’s District 15 after a year-long community-driven process and proposal, and launching a $2 million school diversity grant program for other school districts and communities across the City to develop their own community-driven diversity plans.
The Mayor and Chancellor also announced that the City’s independent School Diversity Advisory Group will continue to advise the City after issuing its initial report this December.
“We believe that our schools can reflect our whole city and we are proud to support and invest in the future of New Yorkers for generations to come. This isn’t going to be one size fits all. This is a ripe moment and this community built a powerful grassroots plan. Now, we have to execute and deliver on it to show parents across the city this approach can work,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“The research is clear – integrated schools benefit all students,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “There’s a groundswell of support from parents, educators, and students across the City, and today, we’re taking a real step towards integration in District 15 and citywide. I’m going to be working closely with Districts 1, 3, and 15 to implement their plans, and encouraging superintendents and school leaders across the City to take on this work in their communities.”
District 15
Last school year, as part of the citywide school diversity plan, Equity & Excellence for All: Diversity in New York City Public Schools, the DOE supported District 1 and District 3 in Manhattan to develop and launch the City’s first districtwide diversity plans.
In August 2017, the District 15 community began to develop a plan that would create more diverse and meaningfully integrated middle schools, and further support school quality in Brooklyn’s District 15, which includes Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Windsor Terrace. Working with the urban planning firm WXY, the DOE convened a 16-member Working Group to help the community – including District 15 educators, parents, a Community Education Council member, advocates, and representatives of community-based organizations. The Working Group led the process of the developing the plan, which included four public workshops, several additional meetings, and community outreach. The Working Group released final recommendations in August 2018.
The approved District 15 diversity plan will become the City’s second districtwide middle-school diversity plan. It will go into effect for students entering 6th grade in fall 2019, and has two primary components (admissions changes and additional supports):
1) The District 15 middle school diversity plan will remove screens from all middle schools, and will prioritize 52% of 6th-grade seats for students from low-income families, English Language Learners, and students in temporary housing.
Previously, ten of District 15’s 11 middle schools used a screened admissions method, which meant they considered students’ grades, test scores, attendance, and/or other factors when making matches.
2) The City will invest $500,000 to support the admissions changes, including resources to support teachers and schools.
The DOE will create a District 15 Middle School Admissions Coordinator position and Outreach Team that will call all families of 5th graders in the district with information about District 15 middle schools and their unique offerings. They will also visit and host community meetings and information sessions throughout the year to share information about the diversity plan and the district’s middle schools.
The DOE will also create a District 15 Diversity, Equity, and Integration Coordinator position and provide funding for teacher training and the arts, technology, and supports for middle schools in the district as needed.
The District 15 diversity plan has the unanimous support of the district’s elementary and middle school principals. The plan will be continuously reviewed to ensure it is advancing the goals of diversity, equity, and student achievement in the district.
“In District 15, we believe that our children should learn together and that’s why our parents and educators are so excited about this plan. District 15 parents have always been committed to providing great learning opportunities for all children,” said District 15 Superintendent Anita Skop. “All of our District 15 middle schools are strong, and this is an opportunity for more of our students to attend the school that’s right for them. The current process is intense and difficult for such young children, and the changes are going to make it better for students, families, and educators across the district.”
$2 Million Diversity Grant Program
Using the work in District 15 as a model, the City will launch a $2 million grant program for other school districts and communities across the City to develop their own community-driven diversity plans.
The $2 million will primarily be used to support community planning processes similar to the one in District 15, including engaging community planning firms with expertise in this work, selecting and developing Working Groups, hosting community meetings and providing materials and translation, and developing final proposals.
School districts will be able to apply for the grant this fall. We expect approximately 10 districts to participate in this round of grants.
The new $2 million grant program also draws from initial discussions of the City’s independent School Diversity Advisory Group. The Advisory Group will remain in place to support implementation and share recommendations into 2019 and beyond.
Research
The research is clear that all students benefit from diverse, inclusive schools and classrooms where all students, families, and school staff are supported and welcomed.
·A 2016 report from the Century Foundation reported that “school integration – by race and socioeconomic status – is good for children.” This report also notes that there is widespread agreement that there are positive academic outcomes for all students attending racially diverse schools, including reductions in racial achievement gaps.1
·Attending integrated schools is also associated with higher rates of high school completion for nonwhite students.2
·The National Center for Education Statistics found that white students do just as well academically in schools with high proportions of black students as in schools with low proportions of black students.3
·Integrated classrooms have been shown to enhance students’ critical thinking skills and intellectual engagement as they encounter peers from diverse backgrounds.4
·In another report, the Century Foundation found that setting clear, district-wide diversity goals played an important role in successful school integration efforts.5
These next steps in the City’s diversity plan are central to the Mayor and Chancellor’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda.
Together, the Equity and Excellence for All initiatives are building a pathway to success in college and careers for all students. Our schools are starting earlier – free, full-day, high-quality education for three-year-olds and four-year-olds through 3-K for All and Pre-K for All. They are strengthening foundational skills and instruction earlier – Universal Literacy so that every student is reading on grade level by the end of 2nd grade; and Algebra for All to improve elementary- and middle-school math instruction and ensure that all 8th graders have access to algebra. They are offering students more challenging, hands-on, college and career-aligned coursework – Computer Science for All brings 21st-century computer science instruction to every school, and AP for All will give all high school students access to at least five Advanced Placement courses. Along the way, they are giving students and families additional support through College Access for All, Single Shepherd, and investment in Community Schools. Efforts to create more diverse and inclusive classrooms, including Equity & Excellence for All: Diversity in New York City Public Schools are central to this pathway.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
As a former parent leader all the way up to the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council, New York City public school parents have advised past chancellors on the problems of the New York City Public schools.
It gives me no confidence in this new Chancellor Richard Carranza when I ask him why Bronx public schools are lagging behind in performance when compared to all New York City public schools.
Chancellor Carranza answered me that he and the mayor know that Bronx public schools are not performing up to where they should be, but he is new here, give him some time, and he would get back to me. I replied those were the same exact words that then Chancellor Joel Klein told parents when he was made Chancellor of the public schools eighteen years ago.
The very next week after answering me that he was new here, Chancellor Carranza became an expert on the Specialized High Schools.
I have lost any confidence I may of had in this new public school Chancellor to run the New York City public school system, as he is incapable of knowing the real problems of the New York City public school system.
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