Charles Barron is Right: Our Children Can't Take Three More Years of Failure
You should know that in 2002, when
I was elected to the New York City Council, I was one of the first Councilmembers
to work to support Mayoral Control of New York City’s public school system
under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
After years of seeing our public
school education system fail our children, especially our Black and Hispanic
children, I have decided that this Mayoral Control should not be allowed
to continue.
You should also know that Assemblyman
Charles Barron, a Democrat from Brooklyn, made one of his most passionate
speeches during the Assembly Session on May 17, 2016. His speech was followed
by a round of applause from his colleagues.
Charles Barron pleaded for the Assembly
to stop giving total control to Mayor de Blasio for a school system of
1.1 million children and a $24 billion dollar budget. He said that
Mayor de Blasio wants to be held accountable, but Charles Barron says the
Mayor is already accountable, insisting that the reason Mayor de Blasio
really wants the control is for the billions of dollars in contracts.
“Contracts … contracts,” repeated
Charles Barron, “people are making millions of dollars off of a
failing school system.” He detailed how “test taking companies get multi-billion
dollar contracts to make these tests” that do nothing for our children
and their families except to cause stress.
Charles Barron reminded everyone
of one excuse being used to push this legislation through: “Bloomberg
had control so why not de Blasio?” He asked how we could give “one single
man who is clueless about education” this kind of power, citing to Bloomberg’s
choice of Cathy Black as an example of someone “so incompetent.”
It is important for you to know
that while Charles Barron agreed that the Department of Education’s Chancellor
Fariña
is an educator, he qualified that fact by saying how “she is implementing
the same policies as Bloomberg.”
You should know that Charles Barron
stressed how our children are not being prepared for college: “If a Black
child doesn’t get an education, their pipeline is going to be to prison,”
and “the diplomas our children are receiving are not worth the paper and
ink they are on.”
He continued by explaining how 78%
of New York City public high school graduates, if they attend any of the
New York City CUNY Colleges to continue their education, “need remediation
because they were not properly educated.”
Another fact that Charles Barron
presented to his colleagues is: “In New York City, the #1 city in the
world, where we brag about democracy, parents have no control of the budget
of what happens to their children.”
I completely agree with Charles
Barron and his insistence that the Legislature only extend Mayoral Control
for one year, and to include a Commission that would let experts review
the current system and devise a way to let our children be properly educated
so they could attend college or a trade school and compete in our global
economy.
As my colleagues in the Senate,
especially my Black and Hispanic colleagues, examine the merits of extending
Mayoral Control of Schools in the New York City school district, I urge
them to carefully consider what Charles Barron says, and to take his recommendations
very seriously.
Our children cannot take 3 more
years of failure.
I am Senator Reverend Rubén DÃaz,
and this is what you should know.
