FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 28, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
City Council passes series of school diversity bills
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
Th e City Council passed four pieces of
legislation aimed at increasing diversity
in the city’s school system.
“New York City prides itself on its
diversity, but we have the most segregated
school system in the country,” City
Council Speaker Corey Johnson said
before the vote.
Now, the Department of Education
will be required have a breakdown of
demographics by grade level and place
on its website a side-by-side comparison
of racial and ethnic demographics
within each school or special program
with the racial and ethnic demographics
of the city public school system.
Going forward, the DOE, will also
create a school diversity advisory group
of 27 members — teachers, principals,
current students, parents of public
school students, and experts in the
fi elds of cultural curriculum and pedagogy,
restorative justice school discipline
policies, teacher education and
training, integration or education policy
— who will be appointed by the
mayor, the public advocate and the City
Council speaker.
One member will be appointed by the
public advocate and one will be appointed
by city council speaker. Members of
the advisory group will be appointed by
early next year with members schedule
to start meeting in September of 2020.
Th e third bill passed calls for the creation
of diversity working groups in
each of the city’s community education
council districts. Each working group,
comprised of 13 people, will make recommendations
on how to increase
diversity. Members will again include
teachers, parents, students, principals,
DOE representatives and community
education council members.
Th e DOE already is in the process of
creating diversity plans in districts 9, 13,
16, 28 and 31, offi cials said.
“Our students thrive in diverse learning
environments, and we thank the
Council for their partnership in developing
this important, community-driven
work,” said a DOE spokesperson.
“We’re creating diversity plans in fi ve
Photo via Getty Images
districts this year, and look forward to
expanding to more in the coming years.”
Th e DOE will also also be required
to report on the demographics, including
gender, race, ethnicity, length of
employment and years experience in
the position of school leadership, teaching
staff and other school-related professional
staff . But the DOE will not
have to state the highest level of education
a staff member has achieved.
JOIN THE SUNNYSIDE YARD MASTER PLAN
DIGITAL TOWN HALL
If you missed the last Sunnyside Yard public meeting or have questions for our team, join us for a webinar
showcasing a draft of the master plan and discussing what it means for the City’s long-term future.
The draft is based on what we’ve heard through meetings with local and regional stakeholders.
When
Wednesday, December 4
Starts at 7 pm
How
Visit sunnysideyard.nyc/events
to register.
On December 4, you’ll receive
an email with information on
how to connect.
Questions
Have questions you want
to make sure we cover?
Email them to
SunnysideYard@edc.nyc
or call 212-312-3896 in advance.
For translation requests, please contact Eleni Bourinaris, NYCEDC, at
SunnysideYard@edc.nyc or 212-312-3896 at least one week before the meeting.
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