Preparing all New York City students for success in college and or careers is going to be the biggest educational task that the next mayor will face. Every study, white paper, and research over the last decade has shown that students from low-income communities and high needs schools are not being prepared for success in college and or careers. And according to the Annenberg Institute’s report “Is Demography Still Destiny?” only 8% of students in Mott Haven in the south Bronx, the neighborhood I’m closest to are prepared. Those statistics are unacceptable.  Demography must not be the destiny of any New York City student on a path of success in college and careers.

One of the first things the mayor can do to show his commitment to helping low performing schools in low-income neighborhoods prepare all their students for success is to hire a chancellor with an education background, with a proven track record of significantly raising the achievement in large urban districts.  He/she should be a chancellor who will make policy decisions based on collaboration, equity, excellence, democratic participation, and evidenced based research about school improvement.

The mayor must also dismantle the current structure that has left parents and student voices out of the public education system. He must understand that most research show when parents and students are part of decision-making process; students do better academically and behavior wise.  And creating a culture of college readiness by providing parents and students with a set of tools, and college going experiences early on, can definitely raise the preparedness of students and families.

The mayor must look at the current corporate structure of the Department of Education, and conclude like most experts that public schools should not be run like businesses. He must examine the failures of the initiatives of the last decade and understand creating over 500 small high schools, or expanding the high school choice, or creating 100 charter schools were not the answers for college readiness.

In listening to the experts, he/she must begin to identify proven programs and models that work, and put students on track for college, from pre-k through high school. The CEJ College Ready Community Schools Platform could be a model the chancellor could use that would significantly address the issue and provide students with the opportunity to learn and put them on the path to success in college and or careers. 

 

Ocynthia Williams is the Parent Leader with the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, and Organizer with the United Parents of Highbridge.