Busing a bust
Blas, Carranza won’t use for deseg
Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said Wednesday that they flatly oppose busing as a means to spur city school integration.
Speaking at PS 377 in Ozone Park, Queens, on the first day of classes, both men reiterated their focus on easing stark racial and socioeconomic divides — but said busing was not the answer.
“I don’t think it’s the right way to achieve the goal, and I don’t think it helps us achieve that other central goal, which is improving all schools for our children,” de Blasio said.
Carranza, who has elevated school integration as a prime objective for his tenure, was also asked di- rectly if he sees busing in the city’s future. “I don’t,” he replied. The city Department of Education is introducing a range of initiatives aimed at dislodging entrenched school segregation, including prioritized admissions for low-income kids at a limited but expanding number of schools.
De Blasio and Carranza also support a move away from the single-test admissions structure at the DOE’s eight specialized high schools.
Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) reportedly broached the possibility of busing and other more forceful means of integration earlier thishis week.
But Carranza hasas demurred whenn pressed on a moree aggressive acceleration of his diversity plan and urged patience.
The chancellor said he is in the process of reviewing admissions methods and screening practices that he believes reinforce school segregation.
More concrete initiatives will emerge in the coming months, Carranza said.