Blas smacks families fleeing public schools
Mayor de Blasio on Tuesday called parents thinking about removing their kids from troubled Department of Education-run schools “privileged” — and said those of lesser means will “stand and fight” for the city’s future.
The mayor’s comments come amid reports that a growing number of parents worried about the city’s scattershot response to coronavirus and lack of information about what school will look like in the fall. More are turning to private and charter schools.
“I want to talk about the millions and millions of people, not the privileged few, but the millions of millions of people who deal with often tough realities; hardworking people, one job, two jobs, folks who have a long way to go to work and back, who juggle a lot of responsibility, single moms, union members,” de Blasio said.
The mayor said that demographic will resuscitate the wheezing city and its school system as opposed to those starting to stare at their luggage.
“Those people, the people who sent me here to represent them. They’re going to stand and fight,” he said. “They are going to find a way back.”
City parents are particularly concerned about a continued reliance on remote learning into the next school year to satisfy social-distancing practices to stem infections.
Those who can’t work remotely — many of them low-income minority parents — are worried about child care when their kids aren’t permitted in school.
“Folks are smart. They understand we’re still dealing with a lot of unknowns,” de Blasio said.
The mayor stressed that the DOE is hoping to provide close to full-time on-site schooling and that no plans have been finalized.
“The goal is to have the maximum number of kids in their classrooms for the maximum number of days,” he said. “So, if we have a situation where kids can be constantly in the classroom every single day, that’s the ideal. If it has to be some kind of alternating system, we’ll do that.”
De Blasio also held out hope that a coronavirus vaccine could prod a rapid turnaround.
“When we have a vaccine, very rapidly you’re going to see a quick resurgence in so many parts of this city,” he said. “We don’t have it yet. Some people say it’s this year. Some people say it’s next year. But that will be the ultimate difference-maker.”
The mayor urged shaken residents to take solace in the city’s improving COVID-19 numbers.
“Look at these indicators; thank God they’ve been moving in the right direction,” he said. “And that means to me, we’ll have a lot of kids in their school buildings in September.”