Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at UFT Spring Conference

May 30, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you very much. Thank you very, very much. 

Michael, thank you. First, thank you for characterizing exactly as you did, but think about it for a minute. Think about the fact that there was something different, something even radical, about the idea of working with our educators, supporting our educators, upholding our educators. Something went wrong along the way in this city, in this state, in this country, where the norm became to put down the people who do the work. And so, I am honored – I am honored to help to turn that tide, put the horse back before the cart. Remember, if we cherish our children, then let's cherish our educators. It's as simple as that. 

[Applause]

Michael, thank you for your leadership. You have been an outstanding partner in this work we do. I have to say, this is a constant reality. We – Michael and I are always in conversation about how we can make our schools stronger, how we can reach more kids, how we can do better. 

Again, it would be nice to dispel the stereotypes. There are a lot of people who happen to be a part of the labor movement, believe in the labor movement, and, with equal passion, ask how can we do the work better every single day? And we are making a lot of progress in this city, together. We're making a lot of progress. And people are going to feel it. Children are going to feel it. Families are going to feel it. We are making an impact. 

I want to thank your leader for being such an extraordinary partner in those changes. Thank you, Michael Mulgrew.

[Applause]

Okay, now our chancellor. Where did she go? Where did she go? 

[Commotion]

She left for her anniversary? I was going to praise her and she went to a small thing like her fiftieth anniversary? 

[Laughter]

I'll have to praise her on another occasion, I guess. But I will say, brothers and sisters, remember we had a discussion in this town in 2013, and there was a simple question – should an educator run our school system? Remember that one? So, sometimes in life there's right and wrong, and truth and falsehood. This is one of those cases. We have an educator running our school system, and it’s just plain better, isn't it? 

[Applause]

She is extraordinary – and she is a teacher's teacher. She's also a principal's principal. She's done it all. And I say, when I hear Carmen Fariña address a group of educators, it is like hearing General Patton addressing the Third Army – 

[Laughter]

– both because every single educator respects the path she traveled, but also because of that energy, that focus, that desire to drive everyone to be better, to get someplace we haven't imagined we could get to before, and I know that people feel that when she speaks. It's entirely from the heart. It's entirely from experience. So, if you ever have someone question whether it was the right thing to have an educator running the school system, I think we have given them the evidence right here in New York City. The jury is back, and yes, it was the right thing to do, and its making us better all the time.

[Applause]

I want to thank three great leaders – three people who stand up for educators and stand up for education every day and do a great job of it on the national level. Randi, thank you for fighting the good fight everywhere in this country. 

[Applause]

And your voice looms large in the national debate and that is to the betterment of all of us, so thank you. I want to thank Karen Magee, president of NYSUT, for her fight for education all over this state. 

[Applause]

And not only do I want to thank Ernie Logan for his work at CSA, I have to tell you. 

[Applause]

Ernie is one of the wise men of education in this town, but also I remember very vividly, you telling the story about the teacher who turned your life around. And so, brothers and sisters, when we talk about what Carmen was saying before, take a moment, think about those whose lives you have made better, including those whose lives you turned around. Well, one of them was a young man named Ernie, who now helps us to be a better school system for all. Let's thank Ernie Logan. 

[Applause]

Our elected officials are tremendous partners in the work of making our public schools better all the time. Let's thank Senator Schumer for his work in Washington.

[Applause]

Let's thank our citywide officials – Tish James, our public advocate; Scott Stringer, our comptroller; the borough president of Brooklyn, Eric Adams;

[Applause]

– the borough president of Manhattan, Gale Brewer. 

[Applause]

From the state senate, Senator James Sanders, Jr., thank you for your support in Albany for all we are doing.

[Applause]

And then two people who really are stars. They are stars – because I have to tell you, having been a legislator in my previous life, different people get different committees. Let me speak a simple truth – people get a committee assignment, or a chairmanship of a committee, and some are fine and some care, but then there are some who own it, are passionate, take it to a whole different level. If we did not have Cathy Nolan as Chair of the Education Committee of the Assembly, we would not be able to help so many children in New York City. That is a fact. 

[Applause]

And if you like what we're doing with pre-K, in particular, thank Cathy Nolan, because we wouldn't have gotten there without her. 

And here in our city, I can tell you, though I think it's not exactly a secret, that my first passion is education. And I have had not just a partner, but someone who drives us to do better and will fight any good fight on behalf of our children, and that is the Chair of the City Council of Education Committee, Danny Dromm. Let's thank him. 

[Applause]

I will endeavor to be brief, but I'm not going to be that brief. So – I’ll be purposeful, though. 

Brothers and sisters, I need a little solidarity from you right now. I'm about to go through a life transition, and I don't know quite how to handle it. Three weeks from now, I will stand at graduation ceremonies for the Brooklyn Technical High School. 

[Applause]

And I can not thank, first of all, everyone who is part of Brooklyn Tech for what they have done to make my son Dante a stronger and smarter and better person, because it’s been extraordinary to watch.

[Applause]

Just like those who were at the Beacon School with Chiara, and those who were with both of them as M.S. 51 and P.S. 372 – if I could just show every New Yorker how these two wonderful children grew and got smarter, got more caring about the world around them, got more involved, and believing they could make a difference – that came from teachers and other educators who nurtured them every step. And I have to tell you, the stories around the dinner table about what a teacher said that stuck in their minds, what a teacher asked of them, or even demanded of them that raised them up to a higher level. And it's amazing – especially in my daughter Chiara. 

My daughter is a tough customer, and she sometimes could be a little critical of her teachers until, slowly but surely, she fell in love with them and realized they were right. So, as another point to Carmen's remarks, remember – sometimes you'll have a student that doesn't get the first instance. Hang in there with them – you're going to win them over in the end – and they certainly did with Chiara. 

But in three weeks, my time as a public school parents ends, but it has had the most profound impact on my thinking and my understanding. So I'm a little misty about this change, and a little sad – or bittersweet, I guess, is a better way to think about it – but I want to thank all of you who helped my family on the journey. And I guess there's something on the other side – we’re going to find out. 

[Applause]

Let's talk about something a little less sweet. Let's talk about the situation in Albany right now.

[Booing]

The people are speaking, I see. 

Okay, mayoral control of education – mayoral control of education has allowed us to have chancellor Carmen Fariña. Mayoral control of education gave us 53,000 full-day, high quality pre-k seats the first year we got here. 

[Applause]

Mayoral control of education is going to allow us to get that pre-k program out to every child who needs it this coming school year – the same with after-school programs for middle school kids. 

[Applause]

It allowed us to get to a contract that was fair for all, and helped us keep strengthening and reforming our schools. Mayoral control of education has brought us Renewal Schools, community schools, more time for you to engage parents and make them your partners in education, more time for teacher training, more efforts to retain so many good teachers. That's what's happened in 17 months of because of mayoral control of education. 

[Applause]

The jury came back a long time ago in this town. People from both parties, business, labor, civic, faith organizations, every borough, every neighborhood in agreement – mayoral control of education is necessary. And yet, in Albany, New York somehow that message hasn't reached 150 miles to the north, and they're debating whether to renew mayoral control of education or whether it should be only for a year. You know, we don't make a political football of our children and their lives. 

[Applause]

So, if you believe in stronger, better schools, we need to renew mayoral control of education right now. It's as simple as that.

[Applause]

Renewal schools – brothers and sisters, we said for years, closing schools without trying to fix them was wrong. It was wrong. 

[Applause]

Children got left in the lurch. Families got left in the lurch. 

Now, we're actually going right at the heart of the problem. $150 million we put into 94 schools that needed it, new and stronger personnel, gave them community school programs that are being put into these schools, after-school programs, an additional period of instruction – so many of the things that make a school better – and they're going into these Renewal Schools right now. $150 million to begin, $34 million we're adding for next year, $60 million for every year thereafter to turn these schools around once and for all, and make them good for the long haul. It can be done. 

[Applause]

One of the schools that has seen the most trouble is Automotive. What's happened in Automotive? I went there in March. 
We now have at Automotive – because we're actually working on it and supporting it – we have twice as many children in after-school programs. We have attendance at the highest level it's been in a decade. We have gang-related activity down 91%. 

[Applause]

And I want to emphasize, to anyone of you in this room who is one of the Renewal Schools and giving your all, we need you there. We need you to double-down your commitment. We need great teachers to turn these schools around with us. And we're going to keep supporting every one of them. By the way, every Renewal School this coming year will be a community school – that great idea that this union has been such a staunch supporter of – in every single Renewal school. 

[Applause]

You've heard some talk about the Fair Funding formula lately – suddenly become the topic of conversation. Every Renewal School will be brought up to 100 percent funding level. 

[Applause]

Pre-k was an idea – they said it couldn't be done. We heard many a time. Michael, did you hear it couldn't be done? Well, it got done – 53,000 last year. We will have – by the way, right now, it's May, brothers and sisters, 69,000 children already signed up for pre-k. 

[Applause]

PROSE schools – PROSE schools, which are about reform, engagement of teachers, helping educators have the biggest impact – Randy is an expert. You know, teachers, my friends, teachers are the strongest voices for reform because they want to help children. 

[Applause]

64 more PROSE schools announced this week. We will be at 200 PROSE schools by next year. 200 more PROSE schools, where teachers have made the decision to suspend the DOE work rules and the union work rules alike to create, to innovate on their own terms, to own the destiny of their school and the children they serve. 200 schools – by far more schools than, for example, in the entire city of Boston. This is how big and how important the PROSE school reform is, and we’re going to show that, here in this city, reform is synonymous with public education, and we’re making it better all the time.

[Applause]

The chancellor, because she actually understands the work you do, the chancellor said we have to do more to support our schools, to support our teachers. And so, in July, the Borough Field Support Centers will open, and all of the confusion – that's my gentle word for today – the confusion that permeated the previous years in this city, where people didn't know where to turn if they needed help for their school – there will be Borough Field Support Centers if you need help with ESL, special needs children, human resources, school safety – one-stop shopping so the schools can get what they need. And that will make a huge difference. 

So, let me just say this – 1.2 million kids—1.2 million kids. If you think about their family members, three, four more million New Yorkers who know that we need to protect our schools and make them stronger, and know we need mayoral control of education to do that. And Albany now has a chance to decide – are they going to leave those kids in the lurch? Or are they going to help us moving forward? Because if we don't educate our children properly, we are damning them to a lesser economic future. More than any time in human history, what you do determines the economic future of the children you serve. Education determines economic destiny more than ever before in history. You are on the cutting edge of history. We need Albany to give us the tools. 

Now, one other point – teachers have some lives outside of school, as well.

[Applause]

Teachers have families. Teachers need an affordable place to live. 

[Applause]

By a show of hands, how many people, you or a family member, lives in rent-regulated housing in New York City? Raise your hand – you or a family member lives in rent-regulated housing in New York City. 

All over this city – all over this city, people depend on rent regulation to stop what's happening elsewhere, where people literally – hard working people, middle-class people – can't find a place to live in this city. 

Unknown: That’s right.

Mayor: This city that used to be open to all, a place for everyone, is now a place that so many people are barely holding on. Rent regulation preserves affordability on a huge scale. One million units, enough for almost two-and-a-half million New Yorkers, and guess what? In Albany, they have not decided whether to extent rent regulation right now. Three weeks to go, brothers and sisters – something that affects almost two-and-a-half million people and they can't make up their minds. 

Well, our friends in Albany need to understand – and I will hasten to add, the Assembly has been exemplary on this question, as on mayoral control, and I thank the Assembly for actually being the one body that has voted on something.

[Applause]

Brothers and sisters, unless we want to see a thoroughly unaffordable city, we need rent regulation renewed now to preserve this city as a city for all. 

[Applause]

In fact, we need it strengthened. We need it stronger because we've lost hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing. We can't keep losing them.

And finally, I put forward a proposal. I said – let me just use you as my focus group here. I said, for years and years in this city, there was a tax program, 421-a, that gave developers subsidies to develop anything, even luxury condos. Do you think developers should get subsidies for luxury condos? 

Audience: No!

Mayor: Thank you – the people have spoken. So we said, "Let's reform that." We went to the real estate community and we said, "It's time to change things." There's no reason that should happen anymore. No more condos getting subsidized. If you're going to get a tax credit, you have to give us not just affordable housing, a lot of affordable housing for the people of New York City. 

[Applause]

That's what's on the table right now. We're either going to respect the taxpayers and demand that when our tax dollars are used, we get a lot back for our people, or else we're going to continue something that makes no sense in today's real estate market – subsidies for people who don't need them. Well, I'm a taxpayer. I'd like my money used to create affordable housing, wouldn't you?

[Applause]

So, some would say we're running out of time in Albany – only three weeks left. I've seen a lot happen in three weeks in Albany when people put their minds to it. I've seen our governor move mountains when he wants to. Here's a chance for our governor to get something done for hardworking families that need affordable housing. So it's time for him to do it, right? 

Audience: Yes!

Mayor: Thank you for being a wonderful focus group, randomly chosen, and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Look, I have the opportunity sometimes to invoke the people that I serve, the people that brought me here – 8.5 million New Yorkers – so I’m going to do it right here. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers – 8.5 million New Yorkers – I say thank you and God bless you for what you do for our children. Thank you so much.

[Applause]