Black, Latino schools had remote woes

Majority Black and Latino city schools are the most likely to report low remote learning attendance last spring, according to a new City Council analysis of Education Department data released Thursday.

More than a quarter of majority-Black-and-Latino schools saw low remote attendance last spring — defined by less than 79% of students logging in on average — compared with just 3% of all other city schools, the analysis found.

The new attendance data reflects what many families and educators described anecdotally from the outset of the pandemic: schools with mostly low-income students of color often had more trouble reaching students for remote learning while they struggled with tech access, competing responsibilities and the disproportionate impact of the virus.

“The city administration cannot dismiss the significance of this concerning attendance data,” said City Council Member Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn), the chairman of the Education Committee. “It further paints a picture of a city perpetuating the divide between well-resourced and underresourced communities.”

The new data marks the first time since schools shuttered in March that Education Department officials have released specific attendance data broken down by school and student demographics, rather than an overall citywide figure.

Treyger and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson subpoenaed the data last month after initially requesting it in May. The lawmakers say other information they asked for — including the percentage of “live” online video instruction offered at each school and the total number of students who never logged on once last spring — was not included in the data the department turned over.