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Adams calls for extension of mayoral control of public schools
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Mayor Eric Adams and
NYC Schools Chancellor David
Banks joined parents and
education advocates outside
of Bayside High School on
Tuesday, March 8, calling
for a four-year extension of
mayoral accountability in the
state budget in order to ensure
stability in the nation’s largest
public school system.
Adams applauded Governor
Kathy Hochul for sending
a “loud and clear message”
that mayoral accountability
is needed for four years, and
that it should be included in
the budget.
“Every agency in our city,
the mayor is responsible, you
want to point to your mayor.
So if the mayor’s responsible
for every agency that handles
adults’ problems, why
shouldn’t the mayor be responsible
for the agency that
handles the problems of our
children?” Adams said during
a press conference outside of
his alma mater, Bayside High
School. “We should be in control
of the public school system,
so if we fail, vote us out.”
Adams reflected on his
time at Bayside High School
while noting the lack of
services and funding at outer
borough schools that have
been impacted by the failure
of not having mayoral
accountability.
“Right here in Bayside
because of mayoral accountability
and funding, they’re
receiving $1.6 million in additional
funding for Bayside
High School that has been denied
them for so many years,
and not having the right
control, we are unable to fix
those inequities in real time,”
Adams said.
During the last two years
amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to Adams, children
have suffered a severe learning
loss in math, reading and
developed mental health issues
after transitioning from
in-person learning to online
instruction.
“When you think about the
fact that the session ends in
Mayor Eric Adams returns to Bayside High School in Queens to call for continued mayoral control of New York City’s public schools.
June that the same time mayoral
accountability ends, how
can we even think that our
children should have to deal
with the uncertainty of what
the next school year is going to
be, particularly after coming
through two years of having
COVID bring uncertainty in
their lives, we can not do that
again,” Adams said. “What
COVID traumatized our
students with, we should not
traumatize them.”
Under mayoral accountability,
Adams noted that they
were able to bring certainty
and clarity amid the pandemic
when schools were reopened
in January.
Now, more than ever,
Banks said, the importance
of mayoral accountability
is clear, as a result of the
pandemic.
“Our schools became meal
hubs serving over 140 million
meals to New Yorkers
TIMESLEDGER | Q 20 NS.COM | MARCH 18 - MARCH 24, 2022
of all ages. We got hundreds
of thousands of devices into
the hands of our students. We
kept our schools open and safe
throughout the winter,” Banks
said. “While other school
boards around the country
fought amongst themselves,
we delivered.”
According to Banks, prior
to the pandemic, mayoral accountability
moved the graduation
rates to nearly 80% after
decades of languishing at
around 50%.
“It increased because the
public can finally hold someone
accountable for results,”
Banks said. “I lived in the
old system where we did not
have accountability, and no
one was held accountable. So,
we’re not blind to the problems
that exist. We are two
leaders that came up through
these schools. We know these
schools.”
Banks added, “We have to
Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
remove our schools and our
children’s futures from the political
horse trading that happens
in Albany. We hear from
our parents that this system
betrayed them, but more politics
will not solve the systemic
problems that our system faces.
It isn’t fair to our families, educators,
or students, that time
and political capital is spent
every single year begging to do
what is right for our kids.”
Vijah Ramjattan, president
of CEC 28 and a parent of three
children that attend public
schools, praised Adams and
Banks for their commitment
and devotion to understanding
parents’ concerns.
“We know that not only will
we have leaders that will hear
us but also encourage us to
speak up and have our voices
to be heard,” Ramjattan said.
“We want to know that we will
have people who we can go to
— not in Albany, not where it’s
not accessible, and those who
don’t know who we are and
what our concerns are. We
want leaders who understand
who we are as parents.”
In order to provide “real
time transparency” to parents
regarding their children’s
progress in school, Adams is
proposing the use of EduStat,
a statistical tracking system
for city schools similar to the
NYPD’s Compstat program.
“The former chancellor
started a version of EduStat
and we need to get that in
place, you should be able to
gauge how your child is trending
when they’re struggling,
so you can get the resources
immediately there,” Adams
said.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
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