The most encouraging thing happening in NYC this fall

“If someone’s looking down, I’ll go up to them and I’ll ask them if they need a friend. If they say yes, I’ll be that friend.” 

That’s what Angel said on his first day of school at MS 447. Angel, a 6th grader from Sunset Park, was profiled along with Sophie, a 6th grader from Park Slope who goes to Dewey JHS in a Washington Post story about the experiences of families navigating their new middle schools under the District 15 Diversity Plan. 

Last week the NYC Department of Education released the enrollment numbers for the new 6th grade class. Last year, only 3 of our 11 middle schools met targets for diversity (the rest were overwhelmingly white, or overwhelmingly students of color). This year, 8 out of the 11 schools met our targets for diversity.

This was something we did together. It would not have happened without parents, teachers, educators and students showing up for planning meetings and hard conversations, facing the reality of our segregated schools, and braving the uncertainty and change that was required to follow through on our commitments to equity and diversity.

A major effort like this to put our values into action is exactly what I came to office to do, and it’s what I hope to continue to do with your help. 

I’ve visited several D15 middle schools this fall, and talked to families at every one of them. I am so heartened by their efforts to build supportive, diverse, successful school communities. (And instead of the white flight that some naysayers predicted, the percentage of students that are white (31%), black (12%), Latino (39%), and Asian (14%) is exactly the same as last year.) 

Last week the City Council passed a package of legislation to further the work of school integration, including a requirement for all districts to start integration conversations like the process we led in District 15, and my bill to expand the reporting on school demographics so that we can better track our progress year by year. 

I believe that we can manage our city in accordance with our values. That’s why I’m running to lead the NYC Comptroller’s office, the city’s “Chief Accountability Officer,” tasked with ensuring that we follow through on our commitments.

Thanks to Angel and Sophie, their parents, and the many thousands more families and educators who are working hard to make their new middle schools supportive places of learning and community. I couldn’t be more heartened by the thousands of D15 students, families & educators are leaning forward, with enthusiasm even, into a future with high-quality, integrated education for all our kids. 

It’s hard work, and there’s a long, long way to go. Let’s keep up the work together.