Fariña pushes integrate plan
EDUCATION OFFICIALS on Tuesday revealed a master plan to integrate city schools that includes everything from enrollment targets to ways to make it easier for busy families to apply to sought-after schools.
In a 12-page report, the Education Department detailed how it will expand desegregation programs already in place at some schools to bring in more kids from underrepresented communities.
On Monday, the department exclusively told the Daily News another pillar of the plan is to enroll more black and Hispanic kids in elite high schools.
The city’s new program seeks to ease barriers faced by families looking to enroll children in public schools by:
Eliminating requirements to attend school open houses. Posting applications online. Boosting school programs that set enrollment targets for demographic groups by expanding them to privately run prekindergarten programs.
Launching a web page to share information and resources related to diversity efforts.
Opening 15 new schools or programs over the next three years that have specific plans to serve diverse populations.
By 2021, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña wants 50,000 more kids enrolled in schools with student bodies that reflect the system’s overall racial makeup.
Currently, there are about 300,000 kids enrolled in such schools, Education Department officials said, of 1.1 million students systemwide.
The Education Department is clarifying the city’s mission to support “learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City” and establishing an advisory board to issue recommendations on how to desegregate the schools.
Schools in New York suffer from the worst racial segregation of any state, with city schools earning similarly dismal marks for diversity, according to a 2014 report published by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.
But Fariña, who’s worked in city schools for five decades, said she’s proud of the new plan that’s intended to serve as a roadmap to diversify classrooms.
“This is something I’ve believed in all my life,” Fariña told The News exclusively on Tuesday. “And I think having it on paper, where people can see it and the vocabulary is the same for everyone, is very important.”
Fariña and Mayor de Blasio have been under fire to develop a plan to desegregate the public schools since the landmark UCLA study was published three years ago.
Influential figures such as NAACP New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes praised aspects of the plan, but other local leaders slammed it for doing too little.
“It’s a bunch of gobbledegook,” said Mona Davids, president of the New York City Parents Union. “If the mayor and chancellor really wanted to address the problem, they would start by eliminating school zones and creating enrollment lotteries for every school that has more applications than seats.”
Success Academy charter school founder Eva Moskowitz ripped the plan for failing to mention charter schools, which enroll about 10% of city students.
“It’s disappointing that the mayor is ignoring the role that charters can play,” Moskowitz said.