‘RACE’ TO THE TOP
New ed boss scolds ‘wealthy white parents’
After some Upper West Side residents protested a plan to forcibly mix high- and low-performing kids at schools, new Chancellor Richard Carranza tweeted a video entitled “Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools.”
New York’s new schools chief just got a lesson in the three Rs — reading, ’riting and race relations.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza ignited the first controversy of his tenure early Friday when he tweeted out a story with the headline “Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools.”
The chancellor, who has been in his job for less than a month, spent the rest of the day dealing with the fallout as the post divided parents.
“That’s fueling the fire, and that’s a mistake,” said Joshua Goldberg, a parent of a sixthgrader at the Upper West Side’s MS 245 on West 77th Street.
Carranza’s tweet linked to an article on the news site Raw Story. Posted Wednesday, the story recaps an NY1 report on a heated meeting between school officials and a group of mostly white parents over a proposal to diversify Upper West Side middle schools.
The Department of Education proposal calls for reserving 25 percent of seats at 17 middle schools in District 3 for kids who score below grade level on state exams.
The plan also means more students with high test scores would be shut out and made to attend lower performing schools.
Parents have objected to the plan for its impact on school quality, but critics argue their opposition is fueled by class and racial animus because many low-scoring students are black or Hispanic.
The Raw Story article includes NY1’s video of the meeting, which was held Tuesday at PS 199.
“You’re talking about an 11-yearold, ‘You worked your butt off, and you didn’t get that, what you needed or wanted,’ ” one woman rails in the meeting. “You’re telling them, ‘You’re going to go to a school that’s not going to educate you in the same way you’ve been educated. Life sucks!’ ”
Asked on Friday whether he agrees that it’s a race issue, Car- ranza tried to have it both ways.
“I don’t know. I haven’t had those conversations with the folks. Again, I will say that the video speaks for itself. I didn’t write the words. I retweeted the report,” he said during a stop in Harlem.
“This has been a conversation that’s been everywhere, so I’m glad we’re having the conversation,” added Carranza, who is Mexican-American. “But I will say very strongly that as the chancellor of schools in New York City, I am who I am, and I’ve lived the life I’ve lived, and I am a man of color.”
Asked about the tweet during his weekly appearance on WNYC radio, Mayor de Blasio distanced himself from the blunt wording.
“This was his own personal voice. We didn’t talk about the specific wording in advance,” he said. “I might phrase it differently.” But he stood up for Carranza. “I don’t think he at all intends to vilify anyone. He’s not that type of person,” the mayor said.
Parents outside MS 245, named The Computer School, said they agree the school needs to be more diverse but noted Carranza could have handled it better.
“He should be more sensitive to parents dealing with change,” said Alina Larson, 48, who has a son in sixth grade at the school.
“I am 100 percent for [increasing diversity]. What I am unfortunately doubtful of is whether the DOE has thought about how are we going to support the schools and the teachers in teaching a diverse array of students.”
Education officials said there was “significant” support among District 3’s principals and administrators for improved academic diversity, and stressed that the proposal was subject to change.
And the DOE noted its admissions goal wouldn’t necessarily be met, because it depends on the applications received by schools.
“These aren’t quotas,” said a department spokesman