Pushing for race meeting

School desegregation plan

Former teacher-turned-councilman Mark Treyger is inviting school officials and families to a City Council public hearing on the hot-button issue of racial segregation in the city’s public schools.

Treyger (D-Brooklyn) says the city can improve on current programs aimed at diversifying the city’s infamously segregated public school system — and that it’s time for a frank dialogue and exploration of what can be done to create more diverse and equitable public schools.

“We need a comprehensive, systemwide examination and review of just how deep this problem is rooted in our school system,” Treyger (inset) said. “We’re a system of more than 1.1 million children and we need a path forward that is community-driven and inclusive.”

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 landmark 2014 study published by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.

A UCLA study four years later found the city had made some progress, with more white students entering schools in traditionally black and Hispanic communities. But admissions figures show black and Hispanic students are regularly excluded from the city’s top public schools, even though they account for more than two-thirds of the overall student body.

The issues have been difficult to address for policymakers.

Mayor de Blasio sailed into office on a promise to integrate public schools, but five years later, there’s been just limited progress.

His efforts to integrate eight elite city high schools, announced in June, are facing a serious legal challenge in court and stiff headwinds in Albany. He’s also yet to act on recommendations from a task force he convened in 2017 to tackle the issue.

Treyger said he hopes City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza will attend the hearing, which is set to take place within a month.

“We need all stakeholders at the table,” Treyger said. “When we have racial and socioeconomic integration in our schools, there are better outcomes for all.”