8 DECEMBER 19, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Borough President candidates want to bring
more equitable resources to all borough schools
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The six candidates for
Queens Borough president
have distinct ways
they want to address the
education issues the borough
currently faces — but they
all agree that in addition to
building new schools, there
must be more resources distributed
equally throughout
the districts.
Education was the main
topic at a Dec. 10 forum,
which was hosted by Astoria
and Long Island City nonprofi
t Zone 126, and moderated
by NY1 reporter Rocco
Vertuccio.
About three dozen people
sat in the small theater space
at the Variety Boys and Girls
Club to hear the candidates
— Councilmen Costa Constantinides,
Donovan Richards,
and Jimmy Van Bramer,
Assemblywoman Alicia
Hyndman, former Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley,
and retired President of the
Latino Offi cers Association
Anthony Miranda — address
chronic absenteeism, charter
schools, equity, diversity and
inclusion, overcrowding as
well as students and families
dealing with temporary
housing.
Vertuccio wasted no time
in asking how they would
combat chronic absenteeism,
a national issue that’s aff ecting
many Queens schools at
alarming rates.
Constantinides not only
blamed the amount of trailers
in Queens for the high
rate of absences, but added
that another reason students
are late to school or missing
class altogether is due to the
transportation system. He
wants to have a boroughwide
transportation plan
that, “ensures we’re not getting
what the MTA gives us,
but giving the MTA a list of
Queens demands to make it
easier for our families to get
to school every day.”
Van Bramer said that he’s
learned from educators that
a holistic approach to dealing
with chronic absenteeism is
the best way to address the
issue, which includes school
representatives going to the
home of those students and
Councilman Costa Constantinides, former Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, NY1 Reporter Rocco Vertuccio, Councilman
Donovan Richards, Zone 126 Managing Director Anju Rupchandani, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, Zone 126 Executive
Director Anthony Lopez, Anthony Miranda, and Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman at the Queens Borough President
Candidates Education Forum. Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
talking to parents so that
they understand what’s at
stake when their child misses
class.
He added that bullying can
be another reason students
miss school.
“As a gay child, bullying,
we know, is one of the worst
things that happens to children
in school that makes
them a lot less desiring to go
to school,” Van Bramer said.
“It is absolutely critical that
every school community is
safe, that we’re addressing
bullying and any other instances
of violence against
children that might make
them less likely to go to
school.”
When Vertuccio asked
about charter schools and
mentioned how Success Academy
has a “limited presence
in Queens,” all of the candidates’
resounding response
was to focus their resources
to public schools that serve
the whole community.
Hyndman, a self-described
parent advocate, was adamant
about the detrimental
eff ects that co-locating (or
sharing building space with
another public school) can
have on students, citing
Success Academy’s current
battle with the city.
“We have four charters in
the 29th assembly district,
of those charters two are colocated
and two have their
own building,” Hyndman
said. “I know parents want
choice … but what I don’t
agree with is co-locations.
In every school, in order for
them to thrive, and students
and leadership to feel like
they’re being included, they
have to have buildings where
they’re standalone.”
Richards said he echoed
Hyndman’s views on colocations,
but supports community
charters.
“When you look at the
disparities, and I know
that we’ve seen in district
29, where a charter was
housed in a public school,
the children who were in
the public school would feel
inferior because the technology
would look better or the
fl oors would look better that
housed the charter,” Richards
said.
He added that he’d
also ensure that every public
school would get what they
deserve in terms of funding,
regardless of their zip code.
When Vertuccio asked how
the candidates plan to make
schools more equitable and
diverse, the candidates had
a more varied approach to
addressing those issues.
Constantinides said he’d
emphasize STEM classes and
fi ght to desegregate schools;
Hyndman talked about how
she got rid of zoned middle
and high schools when she
served as president of the
Community District Education
Council; Crowley committed
to appointing leaders
who “respect diversity,
transparency and equity;”
Richards said he’d push
for a diverse curriculum
and teacher pool; and Van
Bramer said that he’d give
more resources to public
schools that serve students
who are homeless or living
in temporary housing.
Miranda, who sets himself
apart by being the
only non-elected offi cial in
the race, focused his ideas
overall on strengthening
Parent-Teacher Associations,
addressing overcrowding
and working with the community
to fi x years of other
“wrongdoings.”
“Students perform better
when the school’s more
diverse,” Miranda said. “As
a parent, we’re going to look
for whatever institution is
available to us that provides
the best education and opportunity.
You can’t run from
that. When we have schools
where we’re housing 30 to 45
kids in one class then we’re
housing them, not educating
them.”
Although none of the candidates
argued that Queens
doesn’t need more schools,
some did challenge the part
of Vertuccio’s question about
underutilized buildings in
the borough.
“We absolutely need new
school buildings, we could
use at least 10,000 high school
seats in Queens and almost
15,000 additional elementary
school seats,” Crowley said.
“So underutilized schools are
not happening in the district
that I served and is not happening
in much of Queens.”
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