New York Daily News

Lifesaving aid for softball kids

- Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza (r.) on Wednesday. Erin Durkin

He came with some baggage, including a $75,000 sex discrimina­tion suit that his former employers at the San Francisco Unified School District settled.

But Carranza has won the admiration of many for his outspoken stance on school segregatio­n, which is extreme in New York, compared with many other cities. He’s also drawn criticism. Last month, he took to Twitter to share a RawStory recap of a raucous Upper West Side school meeting at which white parents spoke out against controvers­ial plans to integrate some of the neighborho­od’s middle schools.

“WATCH: Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools,” Carranza tweeted with a link to the video, which originally appeared on NY1.

Carranza later apologized for the tweet after de Blasio distanced himself from it on “The Brian Lehrer Show.”

Nearly a third of city schools use admissions screens, and they are widely believed to be a contributi­ng factor in classroom segregatio­n.

Brooklyn College education Prof. David Bloomfield said removing admissions screens would likely lead to more diverse schools.

“It’s a marked departure from de Blasio’s past policies,” Bloomfield said. “There appears to be increasing daylight between the chancellor and the mayor.”

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GIRLS ARE in the game when it comes to lifesaving devices for youth sports teams.

The City Council passed a bill Wednesday to require defibrilla­tors for youth softball leagues, expanding a mandate already in place for baseball teams.

The legislatio­n requires the city to give automated external defibrilla­tors to mostly female softball leagues that play on cityowned land. The AEDs deliver a shock to restart a player’s heart if they go into cardiac arrest after getting hit in the chest with a ball.

“It’s the best chance to survive cardiac arrest,” said Councilman Steve Matteo (R-Staten Island), who sponsored both the softball bill and one passed in 2016 requiring Little League teams that play on city fields to bring a working AED to all games and practices.

The bill, which Mayor de Blasio is expected to sign, will equip 500 teams with defibrilla­tors and training for their coaches on how to use them.

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