‘We’re angry, we need help’
BP Diaz gives DOE a ‘failing grade’ for lack of remote learning tech access
BY ALEX MITCHELL
New York City and its Department
of Education have
fl unked in handling the distribution
of technological needs
for low income students across
the city, Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. said in
anger on Oct. 26.
Standing outside of an NYC
DOE facility at Fordham Plaza,
Diaz ripped into Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the DOE for “ineptitude,”
which he said has left an
estimated 500 Bronx families
without school-issued Chromebook
laptops, tablets, and other
necessary learning devices. He
also criticized the agency for
being unable to provide broadband
or internet for remote
students that lack access.
Calling it a “concentrated
effort of disrespecting our families,”
Diaz said nearly half
of the calls his offi ce has received
on the matter regarded
elementary students in grades
1-5 and that Bronx high school
students have resorted to using
cell phones to complete
their curriculum.
Diaz quoted NYC Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza’s
unfulfi lled commitment
in March, when he said that all
students would be properly allocated
learning devices for remote
semesters. According to
Diaz, there are still “thousands
of students left without.”
The borough president’s
commentary comes following
a Daily News report that indicated
families living in shelters
who lack learning access
have been reported to ACS
for truancy, a move that Diaz
called “blaming the victim.”
What’s conceivably worse
is that the DOE hasn’t responded
to government inquiry
on handling remote
learning for students in shelters
and transitional housing,
according to Matt Cruz, District
Manager of the Bronx’s
Community Board 10.
He and that the board
has repeatedly contacted the
DOE for recommendations
on handling remote learning
for the three family shelters
which are located in that east
Bronx district, but Cruz said
there has been no response
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,6 OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 BTR
from the department.
South Bronx city councilman
Rafael Salamanca, Jr.
said he visited the elementary
school CS150 at 920 E. 167th St.
last week, where he was given
a disturbing report on the
amount of students without
remote access.
Out of that school’s 300
full time remote learners,
125 do not have the adequate
technology for home learning
and the many students in
need of bilingual programs
are also being left behind as
a byproduct from this “unacceptable”
lack of DOE transparency
and communication,
Salamanca said.
Diaz said the city’s “comedy
of errors” on the issue
would be laughable if the consequences
were less dire, also
jabbing de Blasio for painting
Black Lives Matter murals
while ignoring the educational
needs of Black and
brown students in New York.
He also called on NYC to
partner with technology giants
in efforts to expedite universal
remote learning access
for families, which are
now struggling.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Bronx elected offi cials sharply
criticized the city’s handling of remote learning outside of an NYC DOE
facility at Fordham Plaza on Monday, Oct. 26. Photo by Alex Mitchell
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