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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 25-31, 2022
BXR
las-Ramirez, of Harlem, say their
schools became more responsive
to the community once the executive
superintendent role was introduced.
“There was a systemic issue
in my district where parents
were not empowered and parents
didn’t have a voice,” Salas-
Ramirez told The 74. “When the
executive superintendents were
put in place, Marisol Rosales,
the Manhattan leader at the
time, was incredibly responsive
to parents on the ground.”
That indicates, said Andrea
Gabor, author of After the Education
Wars, not that another layer
of bureaucracy was necessary,
but that perhaps Salas-Ramirez’s
district superintendents weren’t
properly doing their job.
“In an ideal world, teachers
and principals should be the
ones who are responsive to parents,”
the Baruch College professor
told The 74. “You should not
Poster for a series of Bronx “Master Classes” hosted by Erika Tobia. Photo | Farah Despeignes
have to go through a four-layer
cake in order to get some kind of
a response.”
The DOE took a similar
stance: “School leaders will
be successful when they work
closely with families. … There
are phenomenal schools in every
neighborhood across the city,
and it is our responsibility to cut
bureaucracy and grow what is
working at the school-level,” said
Press Secretary Nathaniel Styer.
Still, based on her experience
in the Bronx, Despeignes pushed
back.
“Yes, it is another layer of bureaucracy…
but it’s a layer of bureaucracy
that is needed because
it brings all the schools and all
the superintendents under one
tent,” she said.
“It’s not outlandish,” noted
Bloomfield, to eliminate executive
superintendents in most boroughs,
but keep them on a caseby
case basis in areas where
they’re making a positive impact,
perhaps like the Bronx.
Back in Brooklyn, District 14
Community Education Council
President Tajh Sutton said the
bulk of the Adams’s administration’s
work building families’
trust is still to come.
“I’m happy to see one layer
of the bureaucracy go, but what
does that look like in practice?
And how does it improve the
lives and interactions between
families and districts on the
ground?” she wonders. “Are we
talking to the most marginalized
members of each district community
to really try to get a sense of,
‘Is this superintendent effective?
Is this principal effective?’”
Hsu, also on the District 14
CEC, agrees. She’s been frustrated
by the lack of action after
she raised concerns over anti-
Asian racism her kids and others
have experienced in school,
she said. To her, re-ordering the
DOE’s organizational chart is
not enough.
“You’re just kind of shuffling
pieces of a broken system
around,” she said. “What I really
want to hear is about meaningful
change from the ground up and
meaningful engagement with
parents.”
Erika Tobia
Ilka Rios