The Education Plan.
Our education system faced serious challenges long before COVID, and its inequities have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. My plans for the future revolve around three core priorities: access to a quality education in integrated schools for every child, disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, and strengthening and modernizing CUNY, the nation’s crown jewel of urban public education.
Equal Access to a Quality Education
Expand Funding for Universal 3-K and Pre-K
We’ll work to enhance funding for universal 3-K and Pre-K to give all students in New York City schools an equal footing from the start. We must support short-term and long-term hiring practices, funding, and incentives to hire a more inclusive cohort of teachers system-wide—including more teachers of color. We’re committed to ensuring fair pay for all teachers in both public schools and community-based organizations that provide instruction, enabling them to attract and retain talent.
Recover the Lost Academic Year
We must demand that the Department of Education produce data on attendance records during the pandemic, with the goal of identifying the students the school system failed to serve and connecting them with counselors, mental health and social services, and private tutoring to catch them up academically.
Ensure and Expand Broadband Internet Access for All NYC Students
The pandemic laid bare the inequities of internet access to students across our District. As learning continues to expand beyond the physical classroom via online learning tools, we’ll work to ensure that every student has proper access to reliable broadband internet in their own homes, including in shelters.
Address PTA Disparities
We can encourage collaboration and community building between PTAs within each District. Guidelines and resources for enrichment programs have the capacity to promote inclusion, diversity, and equity throughout the district.
Separation of Public Schools from Criminal Justice
Implement Culturally-Inclusive Curriculum and EDI Training
It is imperative that we adopt culturally inclusive curricula across the system, and fund anti-racism and anti-bias training for faculty, staff, parents, and students. We’ll also work to ensure there’s funding to hire more Title IX coordinators at the Department of Education.
Reinvest in Communities
Money saved from reduced incarceration should be redirected to address poverty and improve local health, education, and employment opportunities. Budgets are moral documents, and we’ll always work to prioritize funding for schools and health programs in communities hit hardest by incarceration.
Equip Schools with Appropriate Tools for Student Safety
The safety needs of our schools should be assessed and determined in collaboration with experienced educators and administrators. And safety professionals working in our schools need to be trained in conflict resolution, and equipped to meet the unique needs of students, working in collaboration with guidance counselors, mental health professionals, and social workers. We’ll also work to protect students from invasive technologies like metal detectors and biometric surveillance systems that treat our children with suspicion, and which make too many of our schools unwelcoming to those they’re designed to serve.
A Tuition-free College for NYC
Empower CUNY
The success of the City University of New York is a direct reflection of our City’s values. We’ll work to set this institution up for continued success. This includes fully funding CUNY, ensuring its faculty (including adjunct faculty) are fairly paid, and working to make CUNY tuition-free for all NYC residents.
Create Non-Degree Training Programs
We’ll work to develop a Non-Degree Program Online Community College through CUNY to help adults gain skills aligned with specific industry needs.
Implement Targeted Training and Education Programs
We’ll work to develop a community college reentry program for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers. We can target communities hit hardest by incarceration for educational outreach, and give the formerly incarcerated a better chance upon re-entry to the workforce and society.