Transcript: Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina Announce First Signs of Progress in Struggling Schools, Promote Experienced Leader to Head Renewal Schools

March 10, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here. It’s a pleasure to be with everyone gathered here at Boys and Girls High School here in Bed-Stuy. And I want to open up – I want to, of course, in a moment, acknowledge some folks and talk about why this gathering today is so important. But first, I just want to take a moment as a Brooklynite to talk about something that I have a sense of, but some other people here in the room could tell you a whole lot more of – what this school means to the people of this community and to Brooklyn as a whole. 

This school, the oldest high school in Brooklyn, carries with it an extraordinary tradition and an extraordinary connection to the community. For generations – literally, generations of people who grew up in Bed-Stuy and surrounding communities, this was their high school. You had families whose parents and grandparents went to the same high school as their children and grandchildren. This was a core of the community, and a high school that did so much for so many, and then struggled – and struggled in some very profound ways – but always had that extraordinary history to draw on – that extraordinary connection to the community to draw on. And it’s an example of what we believe in. 

We believe in respecting communities. We believe in engaging communities. We believe in engaging parents. We believe it takes everyone to make a school as great as it can be. And so when you have a school that has that extraordinary history, that extraordinary connection to the community, there’s something precious there. And when that school is not achieving all it should, it’s our obligation to use every tool we have urgently to turn it around and make it strong again. And that’s what we are endeavoring to do right now. And you’re going to hear some of the immediate steps that have been taken here at Boys and Girls and are already having an impact. 

We know this school is turning around. We’re not minimizing some of the challenges. We’re not minimizing some of the missteps of the past. But we know, right now, in this school year, it is turning around. And we know there’s a lot more to come. And we’re going to invest in this school because we believe in it. We believe in its history and we believe in its potential. And this is an example of the kind of changes we’ll be making at schools all over the city. 

I want to acknowledge the folks who are so crucial to this effort here and again in many parts of the city where schools need help to get better. First of all, of course, our schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña – you will hear from her in a moment – who’s doing an extraordinary job and is very focused – pin-point focus, as is her habit – on the things we do to – we need to do to fix each of our schools that are struggling.

I want to thank someone who’s payed a great role here, and is going to be helping us at a number of other schools that need help – and I’ve worked with her for many, many years – Sister Paulette Lomonaco, the executive director of Good Shepard Services. Let’s thank her for all she does –

[Applause]

– who’s bringing a lot to the equation here. I want to thank – I have a lot of people to thank, and they’re all quite worthy – I want to thank some individuals seated before me, and one of them really epitomizes everything good about this community, and he put a lot of his heart and time and effort into supporting this school. Former Councilman Al Vann – let’s thank him for all he has done.

[Applause]

I want to thank our partner in turning around schools, a man who I have turned to for advice on many occasions and who believes we can turn around schools – the president of the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, Ernie Logan. Thank you.

[Applause]

We announced just a few months ago, a renewal schools initiative – 94 schools, $150 million dollars, a huge set of actions and initiatives to turn schools around – an effort that really does not resemble anything attempted previously. Because what I said when I announced the initiative in East Harlem – I said that we were going to combine so many features that have never been brought to bear in schools in need. We were going to add resources. We were going to add time to the school day. We were going to ensure that every one of the struggling schools became a community school, with all of the elements of this community school program – the healthcare, and both the physical and mental healthcare services in this school, the much deeper involvement of parents. We talked openly that day about the fact that we would add personnel, change personnel, bring in better, stronger leaders where needed, bring in master teachers. 

I need every one to understand – there literally is no parallel in the past for this kind of effort. There was the chancellor’s district in the past, which was a very good initiative in my view. But we’re adding features beyond even that which was attempted then. One obvious example – that every one of the 94 renewal schools will also be a community school. This is an extraordinarily concentrated, focused effort to turn these schools around, and we have made very clear – in everything we’re doing on these 94 schools – that they represent a status quo that is unacceptable to us. I’ve said many times – and I said it up in Albany when I gave my testimony on the state budget – the status quo in education in New York City is unacceptable. It was unacceptable when I was running for mayor. It’s still unacceptable. There’s a host of things that have to change and we are trying to change them, literally, daily and hourly. We feel that level of urgency. In the 94 struggling schools, we will not let them remain struggling. We will do what I think should have been done a long time ago – put a tremendous amount of investment and talent into the equation to turn something from an unacceptable situation to a positive situation. 

We’ve also chosen leaders who know how to turn things around. I’m proud to introduce our Executive Superintendent for Renewal Schools, Aimee Horowitz. [inaudible], Aimee.

[Applause]

I’m looking the wrong way. Aimee is a longtime educator, a proven leader. She’s already overseen 14 schools in our renewal program, she’s been at the frontline, she knows what it takes. And as with everything else we’re doing, we believe fundamentally in accountability – and the buck stops with me. That is the power of the mayoral control idea. It is abundantly clear who is responsible – I am responsible. I choose a chancellor – and we have a chancellor who’s an extraordinary educator and leader. Chancellor Fariña chose in Aimee a leader to focus literally every single day on what it’s going to take to turn these schools around and make sure it happens. That is accountability up and down the line. Now, here in this school – and I had the pleasure of being in one of the classrooms earlier, seeing a great teacher at work – and we thank you for the great work that you are doing [inaudible] – seeing kids engaged because they’re getting the kind of quality teaching that’s going to help make their futures better – and it’s going to epitomize what we will do in the struggling schools. I saw the progress being made, and the progress has to happen every day. And to make that progress happen here every day, a great new leader has come here to breathe new life into this school, to create a sense of optimism and spirit again, and to show that the potential can be met – and that is the new principal, Dr. Michael Wiltshire. Let’s thank him.

[Applause]

And Dr. Wiltshire’s great attribute is he believes in all students. He rejects the notion that there are students who can’t be reached – and sadly, we know many times in our history some students were ignored. Some students were considered unable to achieve. We have a leader here in this school who rejects that notion, who is going to reach every student. And he’s going to tap into that extraordinary history. 

This school has so much to proud of. This community has so much to be proud of. This school has graduated trailblazers of many kinds and people of great initiative. So we know what’s possible here. Everyone talks about Shirley Chisholm – one of the proudest alumna, and in her case, the first black congresswoman in the history of this country, the first black woman to run for president of the United States – I can’t think of a better example of what this school is possible of. 

But in recent years, as this school struggled, as it suffered, it was harder to tap into that history. The school was constantly labeled as failing, labeled as a school that couldn’t make it. Our belief is a school can make it if you actually give it the things it needs.

And so, you’re going to see in this school – and it’s starting already – an extra ninth period of instruction every day, because one of the most fundamental things we can do is give kids more time to learn. You’re going to see a Saturday academy for small group instruction and class size reduced to 25. These are the kinds of tangible actions that make education work better for everyone. 

Our new principal has reprogrammed the whole schedule of the school to make sure kids are getting the classes they need to graduate – something that did not happen effectively in the past. As a result, this semester, more than twice as many seniors are taking the courses they need to graduate. 

We also see real tangible progress. Attendance is rising – one of the most fundamental measures of whether a turnaround is working. Attendance is rising. There are new AP classes available for the first time. And this is a thing that really epitomizes when a school is starting to engage its students – the faculty is creating a student government, creating clubs, building school spirit. 

Something holistic is happening here and this will be repeated in each and every one of the 94 schools. And what that then does is it engages parents. I think people have heard me talk about how strategically crucial the role of parents is as partners with our teachers. So as all these other measure are moving forward, now more and more parents are attending PTA meetings because they know something is happening and progress is being made.

We knew this school needed a new approach, and so we struck a cooperative arrangement with the teachers. And in this school, all faculty must reapply for their jobs next year. I made very clear that we’re going change things from top to bottom, and that meant that everyone had to reapply for their jobs. The people – the teachers who fit here, the teachers who have what it takes will come back. The teachers who are good teachers but don’t fit the needs here can go elsewhere.  Teachers who should not be in the profession will be moved out of the profession. As I said in Albany a couple of weeks ago, since April, we have helped 291 teachers who we believe should not be in the profession move out of the profession, and we will continue to apply that approach consistently. 

We’re going to hold this school accountable. We’re going to show the urgency necessary to turn it around. And if the progress continues to be made, we will continue investing. And if progress is not made, as with every one of our renewal schools – we won’t hesitate, if all our investments aren’t working, to say we need to go in a very different direction. But we do believe in the power of these investments. 

Right now, across the city, at 54 of our renewal schools, right this minute, changes have already taken place. There may be – depending on the school – an extra period of instruction time already in place, or before- and after-school academic activities already in place, or Saturday classes for kids who need them already in place. The renewal schools efforts is happening right now, and it’s building out every day. 

This part of a bigger reform agenda. And you know many of the pieces of it – full-day pre-k for every child, starting in the new school year; afterschool available for every middle school student, starting in the new school year; the PROSE schools – 200 schools where teachers and the principal determine together to suspend UFT work rules and DOE work rules, and create an environment and a set of choices that they think will best educate the kids of that school; the community school program – again, bringing the whole community in, bringing parents in, bringing health services in to address the whole child. 

All of these reforms are happening right now and with a constant focus on hiring the best teachers, training those teachers incessantly to make them better, retaining the great teachers we have rather than losing them as much we did in the past, and helping out of the profession those that don’t belong. 

We’re doing all this and we could do a whole lot more. We could do a lot more for our kids with special needs – 171,000 kids with special needs in our school system. We could do a lot more if we got the funding from Albany that we have been waiting for for years and years. I’ve spoken many times last year and this about the decision by the Court of Appeals in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity suit. This year alone, if that decision were being followed, it would mean $2.6 billion dollars more for New York City public schools. $2.6 billion dollars would allow all of these reforms to go so much deeper so much faster. We could make these schools so much better if Albany would do what the highest court in this state instructed them to do back in 2008. And of course, we’ve heard for many years there are tough economic times, tough budgets. Well, you know what? This year Albany has an almost $8 billion dollar surplus. So it’s time to focus on the educational needs of children here and in many other parts of the state covered by that Court of Appeals decision who still have not gotten the resources that were coming to them.

I’ll conclude very quickly with a quote from that great alumni of this school, Shirley Chisholm – and I think it epitomizes the attitude we bring to this effort. She said, “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing new ideas.” And that is what we’re doing. 

We’re not writing schools off. We’re giving them the leadership and the resources they need to turn around. And we will not rest until they do turn around. A few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

And with that, whether she speaks English or Spanish, she is equally good – the chancellor of the New York City public schools, Carmen Fariña. 

[Applause]

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña: Well, first of all, it’s a pleasure to be here, because I want to be very clear how important this initiative is and how much we’ve already done. First of all, Dr. Wiltshire is our first Ambassador Principal. An Ambassador Principal very simply is a principal who has agreed to take on two schools. And you’re doing two schools for a very simple reason of using the school that they already have proven to be successful to serve as a model for the school they’re going into. And when I walked through Medgar Evers before appointing Dr. Wiltshire to this job, one of the things I looked for was what did the classroom work look like, were teachers engaged in teaching, were teachers happy to see him when we walked into the classroom. I remember one Chinese class that we walked in, one math class, everybody was really engaged in learning. And to me, that was what was sorely lacking here at Boys and Girls High. We needed a principal who had high energy, who had  a different vision, and who came in really understanding from day one that change was needed. It wasn’t same old same old. With everyone’s good intentions, we cannot repeat the past. We’ve got to move into the future. And that’s really what an Ambassador Principal does, and Dr. Wiltshire has set the stage for us to have many more as we forward, and we already are planning our next levels of Ambassador Principals. So he’s literally moving between two schools, using the teachers from his other school to motivate teachers here, and having teachers here who are doing a good job, go back and observe there. 

This past Saturday, they had a performance here where they actually blended both schools. I understand it was standing room only. The parents blended – and when I went to announce at Medgar Evers that Dr. Wiltshire was coming here, I could’ve been thrown stones by the parents there, because they adore him, but what many of them said – what can we as parents do to help? And that’s where I really see the major thing of the renewal – keeping what works at a school, bringing in a dynamic new leader, and also making sure that other things are very much going to happen. 

We have already under the renewal schools have selected renewal directors that will be part of every district, who are going to be in charge of professional development as superintendents need their assistance. They’re going to be very heavily trained to be able to go into schools.

We are also making sure that we have a staff developer, who’s working specifically with elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools so that they will be very much targeted, and also looking for areas where things are working, and how do we make that a movement. 

We’ve already in the nicest possible way – I do thank CSA for understanding that we can’t move a city without the cooperation of the unions. We have already have seven new principals in our renewal schools, and that number will continue to grow. And again, this is something we’re doing cooperatively, but the reality is that you need the right people – and they may be the right people for some schools but for other schools. 

So most importantly, I think, the concentrated effort going forward is going to be that Executive Superintendent Aimee Horowitz is going to have a real role to play because she’s already been doing the work and expanding the work. 

But nothing happens without the commitment of teachers, principals, and students. What I saw today in that classroom – and I asked every student the same question – are you happy to be in the school? – and every one of them said yes. And we haven’t had that – I have to be honest, I was superintendent at Boys and Girls High when I was a regional superintendent, and that wasn’t the atmosphere – it wasn’t then, and it hasn’t been in the last few years. So we’re on a new trajectory. We have an opportunity to make history, and I full anticipate that we will do that.

[Applause]

Mayor: Thank you very much. Now, we’ve talked about Principal Wiltshire and his history and what he did at Medgar Evers College Prep to make it a successful school and now bring that partnership to make this school ever-more successful. But you should know he also was a teacher at Boys and Girls early in his career, so this is a labor of love for him, and it’s something that he is committed to as a difference-maker – and we are so thrilled that he is now the principal here – Principal Michael Wiltshire. 

[Principal Dr. Michael Wiltshire speaks]

Mayor: Thank you very much. Thank you. And I want you to note that crucial point – overwhelming majority of teachers voted to add more work to their day because they want to help the kids at this school, and they want to do better by them, and they’re willing to work even harder to achieve it. That is tremendous team spirit. That says a lot about Dr. Wiltshire’s leadership. And that’s the kind of thing that’s going to turn around schools that in the past were considered schools that were declining. This is a school that you can feel is turning around. It’s palpable. And that makes a huge difference – that kind of commitment by the faculty. 

Now you’ve heard a lot about our new Executive Superintendent for Renewal Schools. Again, she is a frontline fighter to turn around these schools, and she has a lot of history that she brings to this fight, and we have great faith in her. It’s my pleasure to introduce Aimee Horowitz. 

[Executive Superintendent of Renewal Schools Aimee Horowitz speaks]

Mayor: Thank you. Thank you very much. And I want to thank again the teachers and school staff members and students who have joined us today, because every single one of them is part of that turnaround. This is ultimately a team effort, and I think the energy that you just brought to that presentation, Aimee, that sense of urgency, that literally has to pervade every member of the school community, and that’s when things turn around profoundly. We’ve also had tremendous support from elected leaders as we’ve built our renewal schools effort, and the man who represents this community has done a lot of work on education. I remember before you became a council member seeing your deep activism on behalf of our children, and it’s deeply appreciated – our Council Member Robert Cornegy. 

[Council Member Robert Cornegy speaks]

Mayor: Amen. Thank you. Finally, the last speaker is someone who’s provided tremendous leadership for a host of the reforms that we’re making, and we consider him a true partner in the work that we do – the Chair of the City Council Education Committee Danny Dromm. 

[Council Member Daniel Dromm speaks]

Mayor: Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Okay. To our colleagues in the media, we will do on-topic questions followed by off-topic questions. On topic first – on topic – yes –

Question: [inaudible] had a story that talked about sensitive [inaudible]. I just wonder if you could talk a bit about that [inaudible].

Chancellor Fariña: Well, I’m going to answer that two ways. Remember, the only two-at-a-time schools are Boys and Girls High and Automotive in terms of the ones that there’s an even greater sense of urgency. I would love to know when I see those quotes who said them – not to go after them, but then to be able to help them – and so far, until I know where that is, all I can tell you is that every single superintendent has visited every renewal school in their specific districts, and now, with Aimee on board, we are actually going to have a weekly report on what it is that’s happening at every one of those schools. We’ve already started – like, to me, a good leader trumps everything things. We can talk about $150 million, but it’s not the money, it’s the leadership, and was that leader imbued in that building the sense of hope, the sense that we can do it, the sense that you better yourself going, because this has to be done now, and that’s really, to me, the most important thing. So the first thing we’re obviously reviewing in all the renewal schools – are the right leaders in place? And that’s something that, you know, to the degree that I’m even personally involved in that, I will continue to be involved in that. So, if they haven’t gotten any help, I’d love to know, and all they need to do is send me an email because I really, honestly find that one hard to believe. 

Mayor: Okay, on topic. Okay – way back – way back – yes – that’s you, Jillian.

Question: Okay, thanks. I wanted to ask – do you think that some of the successes that you’re talking about here, the kind of progress that you’re making [inaudible], do think that that’s a further argument against Governor Cuomo’s plan to take over – you know, he wants to have the state or other organizations take over struggling schools or school districts. You’ve obviously said you’re opposed to that aspect of his reform. Do you think [inaudible]?

Mayor: Well – two answers – yes is the first one. The second – we have something that is rare in New York State – we have mayoral control of education. When I testified in Albany, I made clear that that is really why we have to be looked at a little differently, because where mayoral control of education is in place there is absolute and total accountability. It is enforceable in so many ways. Parents of this city hold me accountable. The media holds me accountable. The voters hold me accountable. The voters have the opportunity to not renew my contract. It’s really very straightforward. And that doesn’t exist in very many places to this day – we have one of the only – maybe the only – mayoral control system like this. So, my argument is, where there’s that kind of accountability, literally every school success or failure is on me. I can’t think of a clearer message for ensuring success – and I think the notion of the state being involved additionally contradicts what’s valuable about mayoral control. I’ve also said very clearly in the speech I gave a few months ago on the renewal schools effort – I set a very clear standard – during this term, over the next three years, we will turn these schools around with all the tools that I indicated that have never been applied simultaneously before. We’re going to turn them around, in which case we’ll be thrilled by that victory, or if any of them do not turn around, we will not hesitate to close them. So we’ve given a clear road map, a clear timeline, a clear delineation of the resources we’ll use and the policies we’ll use and now the personnel that are being put in place – and the buck stops here. And I think given all those facts, it does not make sense for the state to play any additional role. 

Please-

Question: Have you – have you had any further conversations with the governor about your differences of opinion on this issue or about the school funding?

Mayor: I certainly have made clear my view and I look forward to ongoing conversations. I think in the case of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, this is a matter of law and a matter of history. Again, remember the facts – for years and years, people in this town fought for fair school funding for our schools. It was clear, because a lot of the political dynamics in Albany, that the school children of New York City were being shortchanged, especially given the deep need here – 171,000 kids with special needs, a huge number of kids for whom English is not the first language, a huge number of kids who grew up in poverty and with a host of struggles. So, the highest court in this state said less than ten – almost ten years ago said we believe and we dictate that there needs to be a new approach to funding. Then that approach was implemented under Governor Spitzer. Then the economic crisis hit, so we only got to see that new approach for one year, but in that one year it was a huge difference. The argument always was in Albany, we’ll revisit this and get back to following the agreement with the Court of Appeals when times are good again. Well, guess what? The state of New York has an $8 billion surplus. Times are good again. It’s time to pay that debt. It’s time to keep that commitment – and it would make a huge impact. When I testified in Albany, one example I gave, you know, in high schools of this city, there’s one guidance counselor for every 374 kids. And we want our kids to be college-ready. And we want our kids to apply to college and we want them to move forward. Why does it surprise us that a lot of them struggle if there’s one guidance counselor for every 374 kids? Go found out what the parallel figures are in suburban districts, and I think it’s a very clear argument of why we deserve that funding, so we can actually do right by our kids. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, you’ve announced that you are – you and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner are both calling for this CFE money. Given that she’s a somewhat tenuous relationship with Governor Cuomo, how do see that alliance helping the city, and how do you plan to work together moving forward?

Mayor: Look, I will work with any leaders around the state who want to see the Campaign for Fiscal Equity agreement actually implemented. And Mayor Miner’s done a great job in Syracuse. I think she’s highly respected around the state. She laid out exactly the difference it would make for her school district, which has had its struggles as well, and what an impact it would make on the future of Syracuse and it’s economy to actually get this funding on a regular basis. I think it’s so important to remind people in Albany – this is not a problem for just one part of the state. The big cities upstate also are struggling educationally and were given the right by the Court of Appeals to a different funding formula. There are rural parts of the state that are struggling educationally – also deserve additional resources under that funding formula determined by our highest court. So I think it’s really important to point out this is not just a New York City reality – this is a state-wide reality. And again, it’s time for Albany to address this matter, because finally they have the resources to act. 

Question: I want to talk about the renewal program. Some of the things that were mentioned here today – the staff reapplying for their jobs, the [inaudible] coaching, and the extra period – are there plans to have the other schools – the 94 schools – also have those kind of supports? And if so, what’s the timeline for that?

Mayor: I’m sorry, I was distracted by that note – just summarize that again?

Question: Some of the supports that have happened here so far is the [inaudible]. Are there plans to have that in all 94 renewal schools and what’s the timeline?

Mayor: Okay. And I’ll open and pass to the chancellor and to the superintendent. The core concept of the renewal program for all 94 schools – every school becomes a community school. So they will have the deeper parent engagement, they’ll have mental and physical health capacity in the building, they’ll have a lot more community involvement in the building – a host of things that go with the community school effort – every single one. Every school will get an additional teaching period added to the school day. Every school will have additional after-school capacity. So there’s some building blocks that are truly in all of the renewal schools, and then, with the leadership of the chancellor, each school will be [inaudible] in terms of its personnel – or as we say in football, its personnel package. You’re going to rework the whole thing. Where a new principal is needed, a new principal will be in place – as is true here at Boys and Girls. As the chancellor said, seven principals have been replaced already, and we will make that step – take that step – when necessary. In some cases, assistant principals will be needed or added. In some cases, master teachers or model teachers will be added. In some cases, all of the above, plus a lot more teacher training. So this is a – we are pushing all the buttons simultaneously here to turn these schools around, and again, in a way that has not been done before. Do you want to add?

Chancellor Fariña: I think the most important thing is that we have asked all principals not just in renewal schools to really assess their staff. One of the things I’ve been saying over and over again is that if you’re ineffective, then principals have to do their jobs, do the right-ups – it’s due process, but we need to make sure that only the best teachers stay in the system. And that’s the line that we’re saying to everyone – and this is something that every principal has heard me say more than once – and how I’m holding the superintendents accountable. The superintendents are accountable for their principals, and their principals are accountable for their teachers. In terms of the reapplying, at the moment it was only for these two schools. That’s not to say that we can’t go back and renegotiate that piece if the other schools come up, but these were two most egregious schools in the system where this was essential that we get done and we get it done immediately.

Mayor: And one more point on these two schools – unprecedented that every teacher in the building has to reapply for their job. That gives the chancellor and the superintendent and the principal the opportunity, again, to rework the team according to the needs of a school that has to turn around. So in terms of the urgency we feel, I want people to understand how urgent and unusual that action is, and it was done, again, in partnership with the union. Every single teacher has to reapply. The team that goes on the playing field in September could be a very different team depending on the needs of the school, and determined by the leadership of the principal.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Say again?

Question: The extra period of the day for the other schools [inaudible]?

Mayor: When will they all – for – basically, September, right, for the extra period?

Executive Superintendent of Renewal Schools Aimee Horowitz: By September, every school will work together to figure out how they’re going to incorporate that extra instruction. And in regards to the professional development, all of our schools are getting professional development based on individual needs and based on needs assessment. So some schools will have coaching embedded, all schools have had various kinds of professional development through our superintendents, through the – through partnerships with outside organizations, through our partnership with the executive leadership institute. Many of our principals have leadership coaches and have attended also professional development with their assistant principals or programmers through the Executive Leadership Institute. We’ve done professional development around creating a college-going culture in your school. So schools are getting the support they need based on their individual needs, and we will continue to build that out as we become more and more aware of the need. 

Mayor: But I – just to finish the point – so, again, some things will be common to every school in the renewal school effort. Others will tailor-made to the specific school. Go ahead – on topic. 

Question: Yeah, I’m wondering how one principal is able to straddle two schools without spreading himself or herself too thin?

Chancellor Fariña: Energy, passion, and enthusiasm, and I will say also a very capable second-in-command. One of the things that we stress in the ambassadors is that they have a strong assistant principal, which is one of the reasons, when I walked the building with Dr. Wiltshire, when I went to visit Medgar Evers – is to gauge the strength of the assistant principal. Our hope is that with the Ambassador Principal, that we’ll – two things are going to happen. The Ambassador Principal can decide to continue to work two schools, perhaps depending on the size of the schools come up with a different configuration ultimately, or not. Also, think about whether the assistant principal then becomes the principal of the other school, or the assistant principal who’s there doing work with the other school becomes the principal of that school. This is a team effort. And I want to say very clearly that why I think this is working here – when I say team, I’m not just saying the principals, because you’re talking community. This is something that everyone in this community has put a lot of energy in, but now they have a leader who really understands and is in sync with them, and I think that’s really really important. So to me, the Ambassador Principal – and we said this – has to have a very capable assistant principal – because I’ve said, we’re already thinking of where we’re doing this next – to have a devoted AP that helps with both schools, and if they want to take with them a model teacher with them so that teacher becomes sort of a nucleus in that building to demonstrate what good teaching practice is, that’s okay. So this is not one person walking on water. It’s one person that has a strong team that can move two schools. 

Question: Just to follow up – have you [inaudible] or made personnel changes [inaudible] either here or at Medgar Evers?

Chancellor Fariña: I’m sorry?

Question: Have you made any sort of AP changes in line with what – 

Chancellor Fariña: Not yet. 

Executive Superintendent Horowitz: So there are two new assistant principals that were brought on here that will go through the rehiring process, so they’re temporarily hired, but they will go through that rehiring process. And I am going to tell you that I was here Saturday night and spoke to some of the teachers that were here from Medgar, and they talked about how excited they are about the collaboration and to be working with Boys and Girls High School and the possibilities that exist here and for both groups of students. So that’s part of what’s helping this to work. 

Chancellor Fariña: Yeah, I think what people don’t always understand is that people who come to education come with good hearts and noble purposes. All of us want to do better. I got a question the other day about money – the reality is teachers are a breed apart. And I will tell you that as a principal of a [inaudible] school, one of the first things we did is become a sister school with a school that wasn’t doing too well, because I can only be as good as how I help someone else. And the other school also helps me by letting my staff know that they have to go beyond their own classrooms. So to me, the one thing that you notice about everything we’ve done since we’ve become a team is it’s all about collaboration – and we cannot run a system based on my success and your failure. We can only build a team if all of us are working together to be successful, and that’s really the premise of the Ambassador Principal.

[Applause]

Mayor: Well said. 

Who’s over here? Yes –

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Yes, absolutely. The community school effort and the – it started here in New York through the Children’s Aid Society, it’s developed around the country. The best example, which I’ve seen with my own eyes and is kind of a legend now, is Cincinnati, where every school in the school system follows a community school model. And it basically says this – what are the underlying problems hindering education? Well, health and wellbeing is one of the central ones. A lot of kids are not healthy in a variety of ways, and that’s undermining their ability to get well educated. So every school has a clinic in the school with both physical and mental health services. The family is invited in to work with the school team to help their children on those health needs early on in the children’s time in school, so it allows for issues to be addressed early and not fester. So that’s a huge difference right there. There’s a great deal of spirit of volunteerism, meaning volunteers from the community, volunteers from the business sector are very present in the school as mentors, as tutors. There’s a strong belief in the power of parental involvement. We understand that parents’ lives are busy and complicated, so the school goes out of the way to make it easy for parents to come in, to make the times when parents can be in the school whatever works for them – evenings, weekends, whatever works – maximizes the engagement between the principal and the teachers and the parents, so the parents are truly partners – in fact, even sometimes makes sure that other kinds of services the parents need are available at the school. So it’s like one-stop shopping – they can come to the school and take care of a lot of other things in their life at the same time to encourage them to have maximum involvement in the school. So it basically is strategically very, very different than what has historically been our approach to education, because historically, bluntly we’ve ignored or under-addressed health needs, including mental health needs. We haven’t had a strong program for bringing parents in and making them educational partners. We haven’t really engaged the surrounding community. There are schools that I’ve been involved in as a public servant where literally you go out the door of the school and the surrounding community had no connection to the school, no sense of what was going on in there, were not invited in, weren’t asked to help. This is a total engagement package that brings the whole community in the school, and it brings also a lot of, a lot of time and energy and resources with it to improve the school. Okay. Good – good job. 

Okay, we’re going to do another student journalist – go.

Question: Hi, I’m also from the journal [inaudible], and there’s a lot of media here today. So [inaudible], we were discussing how it’s possible to get the media to [inaudible]?

Mayor: Thank you. I commend both our student journalists – very, very smart and pertinent questions. Let’s give them a round of applause.

[Applause]

So, I would summarize it as simply being what is the role of the media in talking about what the struggling schools are and how they’re going to – what are needed to change them, etcetera? Look, I think it gets to what the chancellor just said. I think that there is a public discourse in education that is missing a lot of the most fundamental elements. First of all, the teachers are part of the solution. The big differentiation we have to make when we talk about education is that the vast majority of teachers are here for the right reason. That doesn’t mean they’re at the total potential they need to reach – and that’s where training comes in and leadership comes in from principals and assistant principals – but the vast majority are here for the right reason. We’ve got to do a much better job of developing them as we develop people in any profession, of ensuring that they have advancement opportunities, of rewarding those who are successful and can coach and support others, which we did in our contract with the teachers union, creating model teachers and master teachers, and recognizing that a much bigger problem for our school system is not the small number of teachers who shouldn’t be in the profession, it’s the many good teachers who leave because it’s tough work. It’s tough, tough work. And so we get a lot of very promising teachers come into the school system and leave after just a few years, before we get to develop their talents fully. Teacher retention is a much bigger problem than the other real problem of removing those who don’t belong in the profession, but proportionally, it’s apples and oranges. The public discourse does not reflect that. The public discourse doesn’t talk about teacher retention in any meaningful way, or teacher training in any meaningful way, but does focus a lot on those teachers who shouldn’t be in the profession. So that’s one thing that has to change to really understand the renewal schools. The other thing that has to change is to understand the difference between the previous approaches and now. As you heard several people say, this is about creating a team environment where there’s a full commitment – teachers, students, parents, principals, and assistant principals, community leaders – everyone on one game plan and everyone feeling a sense of responsibility that something has to change, and willing to take very intense actions to make the change, like, for example, the teachers voting to add another period of instruction to the school day. That’s not typical. That’s an example of people doing different things to address an urgent situation. That’s what you’ll see throughout the renewal school plan, and that’s what we have to push forward as the kind of changes that are literally new – no one’s seen them before – but they will make a huge difference. 

Okay. Yes, you may –

[Laughter]

You’ve been – you’ve been learning from your colleagues in the profession, I see.

Question: Can you, like – okay, there are students that are performing very well. Could we use them as an example – maybe the radios have an interview with them to show [inaudible]?

Chancellor Fariña: That’s great. Yes, we – and we need to remind the media that the best voices on our plans are actually the student voices. You know, the chancellor saying something is working is not as important as students saying something is working. Maybe this is a good opportunity to ask our students who are sitting right here to talk about why they like their school and what’s happening here. 

Mayor: Yes, it is. Sarye, please – Sarye – I’m sorry, Sarye – 

Chancellor Fariña: Now we’re going to put her on camera, and you’re going to quote her. 

Mayor: Introduce yourself.

Sarye Huggins: Hi, my name is Sarye Huggins. I’m a 12th grader here at Boys and Girls High School. I think the best thing about Boys and Girls is the staff support, because in the education system, there – I feel like there aren’t enough teachers who support us and make us feel welcome and encourage us to do the very best we can, and I would like to say that my teachers and every staff member in this building has played a large role in my success. And I – the changes that have happened here in Boys and Girls High School with Dr. Wiltshire are bringing back the after-school and Saturday tutoring, which has been really great for graduating class, because now our graduation rate has gone up, so that’s great – I’m happy for that. And also –

[Applause]

Mayor: Clap for that.

Sarye Huggins: I believe that my peers are really benefiting from the tutoring, and it makes us feel like there is someone that believes in us. And of course, family support is great, and the support of our peers are great, but it is better to know that we have adults that look after us and know that we have the power and the ability to do well in school. And part of the mission of Boys and Girls High School is to prepare us for life after high school, because there’s a whole world out there that we need to prepare for, and I believe all of that starts right here at Boys and Girls. 

[Applause]

Mayor: Well done.

Chancellor Fariña: [inaudible]. And on – on camera – Marlon, you have something you wanted to – absolutely – go ahead. 

Mayor: Yes, introduce yourself.

Marlon Gwynn: Yeah, so – my name is Marlon Glynn. I’m also a senior here at Boys and Girls High School. And first of all, I just want to say, like, I’m really proud and excited to see a lot of this reform come to the school, because it’s clear that a lot of things are going on. There’s big things that are coming to this school, which is clearly evidence of the fact that we’re having this meeting right now. So, I just wanted to say that I’m really excited to see where it’s going to take us, because along the years, this school has been struggling, and it’s been people like me and Sarye that’s been trying to pull us up. And now that I’m noticing that there’s a lot of city – city members and a lot of people from the government that are trying to also take this fight with us – so, first of all, I just wanted to thank everybody for the amount of support that they are providing to help this school to grow and just become better. So – but one of the major improvements, I’d say – I just want to say, like, according to numbers, like, there’s a lot more seniors who are on track to graduate, there’s a lot more attendance rate, passing percentage test scores, so those are, like, the first changes that I’ve been, like, seeing so far. And since these changes have been fairly new, like, it’s just now being introduced and implemented to the school, I know there’s a lot more to come, so I’m really excited to see how that’ll work out, but for now, I’m really proud of what’s happening here.

[Applause]

Chancellor Fariña: That was great.

Mayor: All right – well done. Well done both you. We thank you. 

Well, let’s see if there’s anything else on topic before we go off – questions from the media on topic. Going once – okay, I’m sorry – go ahead. 

Question: Can you tell us, please, what the exact enrollment is for Boys and Girls High School now and what it was in November when you put the plan – when you announced the plan? And I guess the [inaudible]?

Chancellor Fariña: Let me be very clear – the enrollment would not have shifted tremendously, although I’ll let Aimee – do you have – do you have the exact [inaudible]? – but the – the overage under-credited kids were not thrown out. Go ahead. 

Principal Dr. Michael Wiltshire: No, there were no students who were thrown out of this school, and – let me make that very clear. And we have in the 12th grade, 192 students are in the 12th grade [inaudible]. Of that number, 145 are currently in school. Of that 145, there are about 106 who have the possibility of graduating either June or in August. The remaining 39 students were mainly overage and extremely under-credited. We developed a [inaudible] program for them right in this building where those who were eligible to take that [inaudible] examination, were kept in – are currently in the building. They are supported by a counselor from the Good Shepherd Services. They have a designated counselor to give them that kind of support that they need. There were other students who were not eligible, did not meet the requirement for the [inaudible] program. Those students were put into a remedial literacy program to build them up to be able to take care – you know, to become eligible for taking the [inaudible] exam. The students who are in the [inaudible], they are here half the day, then the other half, they have the option of taking a CTE program with Co-op Tech that we have organized. So all of the 145 seniors who remain in school, there is a program for them – not a single student was thrown out. As a matter of fact, we got students who were on the LTA list – long-term absent list – to come back to school to take opportunity – take advantage of some of these opportunities that we have. And I want to be clear that the sign of a good principal is be able to roll off those statistics off the top of his head –

Mayor: Yes.

Chancellor Fariña: And I guarantee you that if we asked him, he could name the names of the kids he’s most concerned about – and I’ve asked principals all over the city, if you can’t tell me who your bottom quartile kids are, then you’re not doing the job – and this is even beyond renewal schools. This is why he’s here. 

Mayor: Amen. Amen. All right.

[Applause]

Okay, last call on topic going once, twice. Off topic – off topic –

Question: Mayor, your reaction to the failure to lift the ban on ferrets?

Mayor: I’m sorry?

Question: The Board of Health has voted not to lift the ban on ferrets. I’m wondering your reaction to that.

Mayor: I thought that was a decision for the Board of Health to make, and if that’s their judgment, I’m comfortable with their judgment. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, we’re trying to get some – we’ve been trying to get some basic information about the education meeting on Saturday at Gracie. I’m just wondering if you’d be willing to share who attended, what kind of –

Mayor: Look, I – I can make it quit simple – we had a meeting of senior members of the official – excuse me, senior members of the administration at Gracie Mansion to discuss education. It was a high-priority meeting. We then went off to the parade. I’ve many times, you guys, but I’ll keep saying it – we are here to make policy, we are here to make decision, we are here to make people’s lives better. Parades are a good thing. I’m not hired by the people to go to parades – I’m hired by the people to fix schools and create jobs and do a lot of other things, but I go to a lot of parades. I don’t always go to the whole parade – a lot of times I go to part of a parade – but that education meeting was something we needed to focus on, but we are not, as a practice, going to tell you who’s in every internal meeting and what time it started and what time it ended. We just don’t do that. We’re very comfortable with the way we approach things and we’re very comfortable with our priorities. 

Question: Mayor, I’m wondering if you could address the recent increase in shootings and murders this year – what you think might by [inaudible] contributing to that, and any changes in police policy [inaudible] since that?

Mayor: You know, we, first of all, are focused on the precincts – the five precincts where we’re having particular challenges – and I know Commissioner Bratton and Chief O’Neill are drilling down and putting a lot of time and energy into those precincts and pushing the leadership of those precincts to improve. So we know it is a very localized challenge – that doesn’t make it any more acceptable, but thank God it is very localized. We know it’s early in the year, so statistically-speaking, you know, we don’t have a full track on where this year is going yet. We know the last two years, thank God, were very good years in terms of driving down crime – and we intend to make progress. So I would say, what we know so far – highly localized, a lot of energy going into adding new approaches, and then, I think, in the coming weeks we’ll be able to say a lot more about whether we think those approaches are working or whether we’re going to do more than that to turn the tide. But I obviously take it very seriously, but I’m hopeful that we’ll see a quick turnaround. 

Okay – hold on – any – just got to do media questions – go ahead – yes. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, can you see any relationship between the changes in marijuana policing and the increases in some of these crimes?

Mayor: No. 

Question: You’re different – on a different page than Commissioner Bratton?

Mayor: Not at all. Commissioner Bratton and I worked very closely together to develop the new policy, which deemphasize arrest for minor possession of marijuana. As you know, arrests are down on a monthly basis approximately 55 percent. We think that’s a very good policy – we did that together and believe in it with equal energy. I agree with the commissioner – there’s a lot of violent crime related to marijuana that we are addressing every single day, and I agree with him on the other questions of legislation related to marijuana, so I think we’re very much on the same page. 

Question: Can we ask you about a story we’ve been reporting on [inaudible] – some judges and family court insiders have come forward to complain about what they believe is an organized [inaudible] of undocumented immigrants who have figured out how to take advantage of a loophole [inaudible]. The family court judges feel like they’re swamped with [inaudible]. They don’t really have the authority to protect them or the power to investigate them. And we found examples of people making up stories about [inaudible] in their homeland, stories that the judges can’t [inaudible]. And they’re saying that it’s basically putting other families’ court cases on the back-burner in a system that’s ready to [inaudible]. I don’t know if you had a chance to [inaudible]?

Mayor: I – I didn’t see it, but I’m very, very concerned, because, first of all, the – the situation of protecting those who have been actually subject to abuse and are actually seeking asylum is a pretty sacred reality, and it should never be in any way subject to fraud. So I’m deeply worried that something that we do honor as Americans and is important to saving people’s lives would be taken advantage of by some who are obviously working only in their own interests – that worries me to begin with. It also worries me if it’s causing a lot of other important work in the family court not to be done. We know family court’s incredibly overloaded to begin with, so that deeply worries me. Look, we’re going to work with the judiciary to see if we can address this issue. Obviously, there may be a federal component as well, but we want to do everything we can – it’s not – it’s not something that we manage day-to-day, but we’re going to do everything we can to work with them to try and stop that trend if it’s happening, because we need to actually focus on the needs of people who are legitimately in need. 

Phil Walzak: One or two more, guys.

Mayor: Okay. Are you media? If you’re media, you’re up.

Question: My question is [inaudible], you have an extremely good [inaudible]. I want to know do you have a similar task force [inaudible] housing crisis? And if you do, how would a member of the community get in contact with [inaudible]?

Mayor: So, we have a group of people in the administration working on the housing – the implementation of our housing plan. And as I said in my State of the City address, it is a direct response to the reality of gentrification. I think one of the first times that the city government is actually trying to acknowledge all of the problems that come with gentrification, including, you know, the good and the bad, if you will, of gentrification, and trying to address it in a meaningful way. So there’s a lot of officials of the administration who work together on that. We constantly work with people who build affordable housing, community leaders, clergy – a whole host of people – it’s not a single task force, but we work with community leaders all the time, and we’re happy to work with more. If you’re saying you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, then our staff today will connect with you and get you to the right official to do that. 

Phil Walzak: Thanks, everybody.

Mayor: Okay, we’re good? Wait – one more.

Question: We’re talking about stories that our outlets are doing – WNYC is doing a series this week – it’s called – 

Mayor: It’s product placement week here. 

Question: – Being 12, and I’m –

Mayor: What’s it called?

Question: It’s called Being 12. The schools chancellor was on Brian Lehrer yesterday. And I just wanted to invite you, Mayor, and Chancellor Fariña, and anyone here in fact – would you be willing to tweet a photo of yourself when you were 12 as part of our series?

Mayor: Highly – highly sensitive question. 

Chancellor Fariña: I know, I know, but I looked much better at that time.

Mayor: Ah. Brigid, it’s amazing that all those photos were mysteriously destroyed, and therefore unavailable. I will pledge – if we can find one, we will tweet it for you.

All right – thank you, everyone.