Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray, And Chancellor Carmen Fariña Host Press Conference To Discuss Equity And Excellence For All

September 8, 2016

Principal Ingrid Joseph, I.S. 392:  Good morning, everyone.

Good morning – this is school, we repeat after the principal. Good morning, everyone.

[Laughter]

So welcome to I.S. 392. We are so ecstatic to have every one of you here. And we’re also excited to embark on a new school year with many different initiatives. However, this is the one we are most excited about because it impacts every single child in the school. Single Shepherd is aligned to our vision of supporting students and making sure they leave our doors ready for high school and on the path to college and careers. Additionally, we have adopted an avid college readiness system, which focuses on independence and college readiness. The shepherds will assist them in their academics as they plan high school and the future. Our shepherds will build a true connection that helps students address personal struggles and the challenges adolescences may bring from home using various practices such as restorative circles. In addition, trips to learn about high schools, colleges, and careers will be infused in this program. This is going to make a real difference for our school, our community, and the District 23 at large. We will create a new generation of students that are equipped with the tool box to take charge of their lives, problem solve in a more effective way while keeping college and careers at the forefront of everything that they do. Again, thank you everyone, our elected officials, our Mayor, First Lady, Chancellor, Superintendent, and everyone who is present for visiting our wonderful school. I hope to see you all and we hope that this becomes the most amazing signature program of this administration.

Have a great day.

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Good morning, everyone.

Thank you, Principal Joseph. After watching you in action this morning I have to say it is easy to see why I.S. 392 is on the rise.

I wish I could start everyday this way. I would never even think about having a cup of coffee.

And this is still – although you know our children have graduated from public school. It’s still one of my most favorite days of the year. It’s the energy and excitement – it really is something that takes over my whole body. So we just came from an all school assembly and let me tell you, again nothing compares to the energy of a New York City school classroom on the first day. Everyone is excited. Everyone is at least a little bit nervous and everyone is hopeful that this day – this school year will be the very best ever. And that wish is bound to come true now for more students than ever because we are providing them with more support than ever. I am especially proud of everything we are doing to safeguard the mental health of our young people from pre-K through senior year and beyond. In order to educated the whole child we must nurture the whole mind, which means helping students develop emotional resilience. That is why ThriveNYC, our mental health roadmap, includes a broad array of services – resources to make sure we can address mental health issues when they arise; for example, we are training all of our pre-K and early learning teachers in social emotional learning, which teaches young students how to build healthy relationships, handle conflicts, and make good choices.

We have opened nearly 50 new mental health clinics in our community schools and we are assessing the mental health needs of 50 additional schools. We created new children’s mobile crisis teams, which respond when teachers are concerned about a student who is experiencing a non-life threatening behavioral health emergency. And by the end of 2016, and I’m very excited about this, we will reach our goal of hiring 100 mental health consultants; enough to make sure that every single school in our system has some kind of mental health support. These consultants will work closely with teachers and principals to make sure any student who is struggling with a mental health condition gets the help that she or he needs.

And I want to say that I am especially excited about the addition of the Single Shepherds because sometimes all it takes is an additional adult in a young child’s life – someone who will listen to that child to make sure that there’s nothing going on in that child’s life that would kind of send them over the edge or prevent them from focusing on their studies. And the Single Shepherd program is going to be just so helpful with that. The de Blasio administration’s first principle when it comes to education – making sure all of our children can access the tools they need to thrive. It’s not just rhetoric for Bill and me; we are blessed to be the parents of two young people who embody the promise of a high-quality New York City public school education. And we want every parent and guardian to be as proud and as grateful as we are. Now, I’m going to let Bill speak for himself.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a man who has been on the frontlines of the movement to strengthen our schools since he joined our local school board 15 years ago – Mayor Bill de Blasio.

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Chirlane is rewriting history. It was 17 years ago, my dear.

[Laughter]

First Lady McCray: How time passed.

Mayor: How time passes.

[Laughter]

Mayor: I’m going to say, on a personal note, I am so appreciative for all that Chirlane is doing to focus this whole City on mental health needs and the things we have to do to address mental health including the schools because one of the things Chirlane talks about the most is if you reach kids early – if there’s a mental health challenge, which we should see as no different from a physical health challenge. It’s part of human reality. If we reach a child early we could really do something about it. And so getting this support into schools makes all the difference in the world. And on another personal note I want to say tomorrow is a very, very important day for Chirlane and I. Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of the day we met.

[Applause]

So – a lot of nostalgia, a lot of good memories going through me.

[Applause]

I.S. 392 is obviously a wonderful place. You can see really quickly the energy here, the excitement, the commitment of the staff. I want to thank Principal Joseph for her great leadership. I want to thank the President of SEC 23, Melony Mendoza for her leadership as well, thank you.

[Applause]

Now, Chirlane and I got to go back in time a little bit this morning. We got to take a trip down memory lane. And we didn’t get to walk with Chiara to school or with Dante to school, but we got to walk with Chyna to school. And Chyna is a wonderful, wonderful girl; filled with energy, filled with hope. You know, it’s interesting, you say, well you’re going to walk to school with some people you never met before and then there’s going to be all these TV cameras on you – you would think she would be kind of nervous and reserved. From the very beginning Chyna started talking about why she loves school; why it is so important to go back to school this year – she couldn’t wait for school to begin. And then we said, well what about – what do you like to do? She starts listing off all the clubs that she is a part of; all of the things that she loves doing afterschool. And we said well, Chyna do you have a dream for yourself? And without hesitation she said I’m going to be valedictorian. And it was so moving to hear that energy and that belief in herself; so, what a great example on the first day of school of what’s possible for all of our children.

Now, we’re going to talk about, today and throughout this year the Equity and Excellence vision. This is really going to be a central focus of this entire administration because this is what we’ve been waiting for years and years in this City. And Chirlane mentioned me being a school board member. District 15 Brooklyn, 17 years ago when I joined that school board there was no question about the tale of two cities in that school district; a school district that had some neighborhoods that were doing well, but also had some neighborhoods who were struggling like Red Hook and Sunset Park; some schools that were doing very well – some schools that parents didn’t feel confidence in. And I am happy to say that over the 17 years the schools have gotten better in general for a lot of reasons; first and foremost the commitment our educators and the involvement of our parents. But we still have that inequality in our school system and we don’t accept it. And I’m going to be very plain throughout this year about the fact that we are proud of the progress we have made, but we still don’t accept this status quo. We have much more to do. Equity and Excellence makes clear two simple concepts: we’re not where we need to be if there are “good schools and bad schools.” If parents in the neighborhood feel great confidence in one school and are queasy about sending their child to another school we’re not there. We’re also not there if it’s not excellence in every school. We don’t want some schools just to be okay and others to be stellar. We need excellence across the board and it is very simple why. It’s not just a matter of our values as New Yorkers and our belief in fairness. It’s not just that we think you should be able to succeed regardless of whatever zip code you come from.  It’s also because the modern world demands that level of education. And I think we’re still catching up with it. And I have to say, I think for my generation part of the problem is when we were growing up you could have a high school degree and nothing more and still make a very good living. And there were a lot of jobs that you didn’t need a higher level of education for. Today is different. We need to give our kids a lot more than what we received for them to succeed in his modern world. So, excellence means raising the bar for everyone. And we’re not afraid of that. We think that is a conversation that parents can embrace; educators certainly embrace. That’s got to be the honest message to all new Yorkers. We need to raise the bar because the only way our kids can succeed in the modern economy and for New York City to continue to be great in the world we need the most talented educated workforce we can have.

So, that is what Equity and Excellence says, we’re going to reach the whole school system. I’m going to give you one statistic – I think it is a sobering one. When I came into office about 30 percent of our kids were reading on grade level by third grade – 30 percent. Now, a lot of educators in the room, they will tell you one of the key indicators of potential success or potential failure is whether a child is reading on grade level by third grade. We do not accept the notion that a majority of our kids will not be reading on grade level at that point. We’ve set a very tough rigorous goal. It’s going to be one of the central focal points of this entire administration. We want all our children reading on grade level over the next ten years – exceedingly difficult goal. But we are going to throw in everything we got to make that change because it is an example of actually shaking the foundation of the school system; actually doing the radical change we need to bring up all our schools.

Now, I want to just quickly go through some of the things that we’ve been doing and why we think it’s going to make a difference. And we wanted to be here in Brownsville because we wanted you to see one of the signature elements of Equity and Excellence. That’s the Single Shepherd program. You will hear, in a few moments, from Rashida Sealy who is the Single Shepherd assigned to this school. You’re going to hear what it means for a family and a child to have – again, not just a guidance counselor – someone who is involved in everything that the family is addressing, all their challenges, all their issues. Not just a counselor who is there once in a while – here one year gone the next year, but someone who sticks with the family – the same person sticks with the family through all of middle school and all of high school. So, that continuity, that support we believe is going to make a fundamental difference in helping kids stick to their goals and getting the whole family involved in supporting the child. So, you’ll hear from Rashida in a moment. She walked with us and Chyna to school. She already has built a bond with Chyna’s family and you’re going to hear what that means.

The Single Shepherds, they will, again, be serving every child 6th grade through 12th grade – every single one in all of District 7, in the South Bronx that includes neighborhoods in Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, and the Concourse. And all the middle school kids and high school kids in District 23, where we are now – including Brownsville, Ocean Hill, and East New York. 16,000 students will have this dedicated support. It’s the first time anything like this has been done on this scale in New York City. We think it will be a huge difference maker. If it succeeds as we expect we’re going to start expanding beyond these two districts. But we chose two districts that have had some of the toughest experiences over years and years. We chose two of the places that needed the help the most.  We believe that when – when we succeed and these two districts it will prove the power of the model everywhere else. That’s one piece. But let me give you the quick run through. I’m going to just rifle through this so you hear all of the pieces that make up Equity and Excellence. It started a course with pre-K. And pre-K is a foundation. If we weren’t giving our kids a very strong foundation we couldn’t do everything else – high-quality full-day pre-K. Guess what? We just got the number this morning, we have now – this morning already – 70,430 kids enrolled in pre-K – 70,430.

[Applause]

Now, last year by the time we got well into October and we did the final count it was around 68,500. This is the first day of school. It is a very strong likelihood that those numbers will grow as more and more parents sign up because there is still plenty of time for them to sign up. And please  – and for all our friends in the media, remember in your coverage to remind parents if they are not yet signed up for pre-K then call 3-1-1, they can go online, nyc.gov; plenty of good seats still available.

So, that’s the beginning. But then I said what we have to do to reach the kids by third grade. Pre-K is one part of it, but a whole lot of support for reading is another crucial part of it. So, there will be 100-plus reading coaches supporting kids in schools with the greatest need all over the City; reading coaches to help teachers get better at teaching reading and to help individual students. So, we’re going to put a huge investment in reading specialist this year and it will grow out from there.

Computer Science for All is going to be a huge difference maker because that is going to be another one of the thigs that prepares kids for the 21st Century. And by the way, it is very engaging for our young people. Computer science education gets them involved because you can see everyone us knows the truism, the joke that if you have a problem with one of your devices hand it to a five-year-old and they will figure it out. Well, we know that we need to give our kids that excitement, that connection. So, we have now 246 schools, as of this moment that will be participating in Computer Science for All. That’s going to grow out system wide. 67 of these schools, for the very first time, are offering computer science education. We’re going to build it to a citywide phenomenon.

We’re going to be teaching algebra to every middle school kid. That’s going to build out over the coming years. And again – that’s one that’s not going to be popular with kids. If you say ‘hey, we’re going to teach you algebra’, you’re not going to get a round of applause. But it is one of the true foundations that help them learn everything else.

We’re going to expose kids to college early. Every middle school student – this will be build out over the next two years – literally, every middle school student in New York City will be taken on a college tour to a New York City institution of higher learning; to imprint the notion early: whoever you are you have a chance to get to college; if it’s what is right for you – if it’s the choice you make. Yes, you belong in college, if that’s what you see for yourself. We’re going to make it very visual, very personal for each child. Then we’re going to make it real also with Advanced Placement courses. And talk about tale of two cities, this is one of the most vivid examples of what was wrong in the past. We had high schools that for decades had Advanced Placement courses – college level courses available; elite high schools, well-regarded high schools, no one thought twice about the fact that they had AP courses and many, many other high schools in other zip codes had none, literally none – wasn’t even given the thought that maybe those kids too could benefit from Advanced Placement and also it would be a message to those kids that they could succeed. So, now we’re on the path to having Advanced Placement courses in every single high school in New York City. This year, over 60 high schools will be offering AP courses including 35 that did not have a single AP course last year.

All of these pieces combined with our community schools initiative, our [inaudible] initiative – all of the things – the renewal schools, this is how we fundamentally change the school system. We believe that we can all learn a lot from each other. One of the things Chancellor Fariña always emphasizes is schools working together. I want everyone to know that means not just district schools working with district schools, it means charter schools giving good ideas to district schools; district schools giving good ideas to charter schools. This is a time where we have to keep innovating. And every school can be a part of that.

Now, that’s the core of the vision. The good news is that we see that this vision is starting to work already and we have the biggest indicators and evidence you could possibly ask for – graduation rate. In 2015, our graduation rate got to 70.5 percent. Not only the highest graduation rate the City ever had, the first time in New York City’s history that we broke through 70 percent. We have set a goal over the next ten years to get to 80 percent graduation for New York City schools.

In just this past year we saw our exam scores go up; in English, 7.6 percent, in math 1.2 percent. But most importantly, in English every single local district – all 32 districts – improved. And that says something about the depth of the changes and that they are taking hold.

And we saw it in renewal schools as well. We’ve got a lot of work to do in renewal schools, and I have been very clear that some are going to make it for the long term, others will not. But I can tell you this much, what we’re seeing across a lot of the renewal schools is the right kind of indicators including better test scores and including a lot of kids who are struggling the most finally coming up out of that situation and becoming stronger academically.

And a very, very important point that matters to every parent – and this one I think has not been well understood. Now, I want to give credit where credit is due. Some of the things that I am talking about had foundations in the previous administration as well. Others are very new approaches that we are taking. When it comes to reducing school crime and reducing incidents in schools some of that started in the previous administration and we thank them for that. We have continued and deepened that. So, over five years combining the two administrations over five years we have seen a 35 percent drop in major crimes in our schools. Schools are unquestionably becoming safer and that is a credit to school safety, it’s a credit to educators and to parents as well.

So this is what equity and excellence is all about – a transformation of the school system. It will take a lot of work. These are very tough goals. I want to be very clear. We’re asking incredibly difficult things of our educators, but it is the only way forward. Pre-K to me is the example of this. I can’t tell you how many times I was told it was impossible – physically impossible. We did it in two years. We added a whole another grade effectively to our school system in two years. We have more kids in pre-K today than there are students in the entire school system of Boston or the entire school system of San Francisco. I guarantee you they said it couldn’t be done. Our educators did it; our parents did it. We can reach these goals as well.

A few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that – whether it is in English or in Spanish – the woman who has led brilliantly – when I first got to know her way back when in District 15, but she has led this school system brilliantly, our Chancellor Carmen Fariña.

[Applause]

Chancellor Carmen Fariña, Department of Education: It’s really a pleasure to be here today. I really – this is going to be my five-city tour day, so I will be in every borough. And in every borough I will be emphasizing a different one of the equity initiatives. But I want to talk about the one that is here today in good – Single Shepherd, go back to my religious roots with the other. I went to the training, this summer, of the people who now have these jobs and I want to make several things clear, over 1,000 people applied for these jobs. So, when we put the word out that we’re doing something new and innovative people respond. They know New York City is a city on the move. And many of the people who apply were not [inaudible] in our system. They came from other cities, they came from other parts of the State, they came from the hospital world, but they want to make a difference in a very unique way. People who work within our own system and had different jobs including – Rashida is going to speak today, who is a parent coordinator – and then went through very rigorous training. And then when I went to meet them I asked a very simple question – although it is never simple when I ask this question – how many of you were the first in your family to go to college? And the vast majority of the audience raised their hand. These are people who understand the struggles that families have who have not had that experience; who have not known if you need to take the PSATs, the SATs; you need to take algebra in a certain grade. So, this Single Shepherd program is meant to be an anchor. 16,000 of these people – students will be served starting today. And they are going to be almost like life coaches for families, not just for their students. And they are going to be going out there and developing a goal. Not only did Chyna say she said she wanted to be a valedictorian, she has books she wants to read, she has courses she wants to take. That’s the kind of coaching that we want all families to have, not just for their students for themselves. They will also be the people who will connect students with whatever part of the system they need. Do they need something with housing? This is the connecting point that these shepherds will do. And we think that this is going to make a major difference in districts that most need it.

I also anticipate that when you pay forward and you’ve been very lucky to have advantages in your life you come to the table with a different passion. And I know that parents who have met me say you know what this is great, but maybe this is a way for me to be trained so that I can pay forward to other parents. So, I see this also parent-to-parent mentoring. I see the way of really getting [inaudible] in the dialogue and the collaboration out there in a big way. So, I am really anxious for all the initiatives. Just a word about one of my favorites – second grade literacy; and this is one that I truly believe we’re going to make a life change in. The teachers who are coming, the coaches – the literacy coaches will be working will all teachers from kindergarten to second grade. They will be doing demonstration lessons in their classroom. They will be doing professional development for these teachers. They will be coming back every month for training at the district level. They are not assigned to school to do coverages or be substitutes. They are there for one purpose only and that is to be literacy coaches assisting teachers. And that is a real shift from things in the past. But it’s really my pleasure. Rashida are you next up? I don’t know what the –

Who’s up next?

Mayor: I got it.

Chancellor Fariña: So, enjoy and keep in mind, Equity and Excellence for All is our motto for this year and forever, right?

Mayor: Amen. Amen.

I want to also thank the superintendent of District 23 who’s with us, Doctor Mia Teresa Pate. Thank you, Doctor, for all you do. And now, I want you to hear from Rashida Sealy. She was with us this morning, as I said, when we walked Chyna to school, and she’s going to tell you why it was important for her to become a Single Shepherd to serve these children and these families, and what this initiative can mean in terms of helping these kids to achieve their goals. And I want to thank Rashida for taking on this mission because it really matters to the people of New York City. Rashida Sealy.

[Applause]

[…]

Thank you very much. Thank you. Now, I want you to hear from two people who have really supported our agenda in so many ways. And a lot of what we’ve done has required a helping hand from Albany. And we’ve turned to our elected officials for that and they’ve really responded. First – Senator Jesse Hamilton.

[Applause]

[…]

And now Assembly member Latrice Walker.

[Applause]

[…]

I did not know that about Ernie Logan. So, Ernie Logan, I’m going to call you up to reflect on the experience – and I hope you’re proud today that you, obviously, have a great example of the good work you did as an educator. President of CSA, Ernie Logan.

[…]

Finally, I want to call up Michael Mulgrew. And I want to say that we have this conversation all the time – I have it with Ernie, I have it with Michael about how far we have to go and how much work it’s going to take. I have to say – two educators who are also union leaders – they always believe that we can achieve great things in this school and in the whole school system. So, we’re all pushing ourselves to go as far as we can. President of the UFT, Michael Mulgrew.

[Applause]

[…]

Okay, we are going to take questions on anything and everything education. Fire away. Yes, sir.

Question: [Inaudible] Single Shepherd program – can you give me more details in terms of how it works? Is it one individual assigned to a certain amount of students? How does it work?

Mayor: I’ll start and then the Chancellor may want to join in.

The concept here is that – first of all, we knew we weren’t reaching a lot of young people and their family in a meaningful way. Everyone knows, historically in New York City public schools, there were not enough guidance counselors. You know, principals, assistant principals were trying to help in every way they could. Teachers, personally, tried to help but there were too many kids with too many needs who were not getting consistent support. And the more we looked at why a lot of good kids just didn’t make it through, we found that that lack of support was a big part of it. A lot of kids – I can say this about our family – a lot of kids come in with a huge built in support system, other kids don’t. We had to recognize that and act on it.

Second, we came to the conclusion that if you work with one adult one year, different adult the next year, it wasn’t going to have the same impact as a specialist who gets to know the whole family – because it really is not just about the child, it’s the parents, it’s the brothers, sisters, everyone – and they’re with you the whole way through. And we particularly focus that on high school graduation and getting to college for those choosing to go to college because, think about it, the seeds of that success are planted in middle school. If the same person’s with you the whole way through telling you, you can do it, helping you figure out which high school to apply to, helping you figure out how to do your college applications, and how to go to a college interview – all the things that a lot of kids don’t happen to have resources to help them with.

We think it really evens up the score in a lot of ways, and creates a much deeper kind of opportunity. Let me have the chancellor talk about some of the mechanics of it.

Chancellor Fariña: Let me be clear that one of the most significant parts of this program is it doesn’t supplant existing services. So, this school has a guidance counselor. In addition to that guidance counselor, they have three Single Shepherds, one for each grade. So, there’s one assigned to 6th grade, one to 7th grade, and one to 8th grade. So, citywide, the Single Shepherds will have approximately 100 families under their belt. The ratio for guidance counselors is much higher. So, they will be able to have a more intense relationship.

In addition to counseling the family on personal things, they also will almost serve as liaisons so that if a family is in crisis about housing, if a family is in crisis about food, whatever the crisis is, that will be one of the things that they will be there to support.

So, this is why we were very strategic in picking District 7 and 23 because we felt these were the more in-crisis – if you want to call it – districts right now where extra support families will make the difference between the kids staying in school, graduating, and succeeding. So, we have done this very strategically.

But in the past, when you give something to a school you take something away, and this program is unique is that you keep what you have and then they collaborate. The guidance counselor in this school will now have an extra pair – three extra pairs of hands. So, that’s going to be a real asset to this school and to the other schools that have Single Shepherds.

And they will be constantly trained by us. So, they will also come back to central, and as they share with each other issues that they’ve confronted, and if they need extra help from us, we will be able to provide it. And the Director of Student Support Services, Lois Herrera, is here, and she’s the one who’s going to coordinate that along with [inaudible].  So, this is an ongoing process. They will continue to be trained, and what they find in the field, they’ll bring back, and we’ll be informed through that work.

Mayor: I just want to say on a practical point – I see the sun hitting some folks in the media. If you want to move up to the front row or move back – I’m sorry you got the sun in your eyes. Right, I know – isn’t it amazing. Plenty of good seats up front, if it would be more comfortable for you.  Let’s realign, get out of the glare. Okay, you have the sunglasses, you’re okay.

[Laughter]

Alright, who else? Who else? Yes.

Question: Mr. Mayor – and I’d also like to hear Michael Mulgrew’s thoughts if you have any – there’s been a lot of criticism of the decision to ban suspensions up to 2nd grade, you know, saying that it’s just going to subject other students to more disruptions. How do you plan to implement that and ensure that’s it’s not just subjecting other students to a chaotic –

Mayor: Yes, it’s an excellent question. We are – I’ll start and the Chancellor, I think, will probably want to join in as well. We believe in an orderly classroom. We need an environment where kids can learn. We believe that it’s no accident that crime keeps going down in the schools and disruption keeps going down – a lot of things have changed. Our School Safety Officers are doing a great job, and they’re also being trained differently. Like the police are being trained in de-escalation, School Safety is being trained in de-escalation.

We think it’s important to deal with the challenges of these young people, and this is what Chirlane has put so much energy into – there’s a mental health challenge, a lot of times what we’re talking about here. We want to deal with it. We don’t think that those early, early grades like kindergarten, and 1st grade, and 2nd grade that suspension is a productive way to deal with it. But of course, we do need to deal with the disruptive reality. We don’t want something that undermines the classroom environment. We think we can achieve both those goals.

But I’m very clear, as a parent, the goal is to solve the problem not to sweep it under the rug or – I think Chirlane’s going to have something to say. And one thing that used to happen that we really didn’t like and didn’t believe in was kids were automatically sent off to the emergency room when they were disruptive rather than trying to figure out how to address the issue. We have to get to the core of the problem.

So, I don’t think that in the youngest grades suspension does that. I believe, very firmly, we can protect the classroom environment at the same time.

Would you like to share, madam?

First Lady McCray: We don’t believe that a child this young – there’s no bad children. And we shouldn’t be punishing them when they exhibit signs of – you know when they’re being disruptive in the classroom. When children behave that way, it’s usually a cry for help, a cry for attention in some way. So many of these children have gone through trauma,  they act out in reaction to the trauma that they’ve experienced, and we should not be punishing them, making them worse, because of what they’ve already suffered through.

The point is – while we make sure there’s order in the classroom, we also need to get these children the help that they need, get at the root of the problem so that they can be helped, they can get the healing, so that their family can get the attention that they need. There’s always a reason why a child is acting out and the answer is not to punish them, suspend them, make their lives worse and more difficult than they already are.

Chancellor Fariña: Obviously, this issue needs to have continual dialogue. There is no one answer to all the issues that have come up. So, we continue to work with both the unions and the people in general. This requires a lot more training for teachers and administrators on how to handle disruptive behavior. It also means that we need to almost categorize what is an act of violence. What does it look like? What’s a Type-A, B, C? And those are the kinds of things that we’re in dialogue now.

And also, I believe very strongly that there are systems in place that when we add more guidance counselors – school psychologists. I know we’re assigning a mental health provider to one out of every hundred schools to be able to be the liaison. But this is going to require a lot more training and a lot more support because having played every role in this system I know what it’s like to have a child who’s having a meltdown. And when that child stops you from teaching, then you have to be trained on how you handle that.

But I do think that the dialogue will continue. We’re not going to do anything that is very disruptive to any member of the team. So, we continue to have these conversations – and, just stayed tuned.

President Michael Mulgrew, United Federation of Teachers: Let me start by saying that the goal of everyone here is the same. Our disagreements at this point are that we do not believe – we are not confident at this moment that the systems are in place. We hope to be proven wrong. That would make us very happy. But the reality is that I want to make sure that teachers have a way to get a child clinical intervention, if needed, without going through all sorts of crazy bureaucracies or, as we’ve had to do in the past, to suspend a child in order to get an evaluation to get a clinical intervention.

If those barriers are removed and we can get the support [inaudible] want children to get, especially at those young grades – that is when we know it is most effective and most important to get them the intervention that they need. That is our goal.

But at this point, we’ve been very vocal and we’re going to continue to be transparent with everyone. We don’t feel confident that we’re going to be able to meet that at this point in time. I have a lot of my members who have reached out to me. They said, “I’m responsible for 25 children in my classroom. I want to be assured that if a child is having a bad day that that’s not going to interfere with the other 24 children’s education.” And you heard everyone up here say that goal is the same.

But I also want to bring up one other point especially now when every morning at five o’clock when I’m watching the national news – you can disagree. The tenure of the discourse is something that we are trying to teach the children of this city as they watch television every day. And it seems that anytime there’s a disagreement, these adults act like people who would – might be suspended in a high school for their behavior.

[Laughter]

Okay? So, we’re trying to lead to a process where we have a disagreement – by also using this as a way to try to teach our high school and middle school students that you can have a discourse that is not, what we should say, in the gutter. So, thank you for that.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Excellent turn of the phrase.

[Laughter]

We’ve all learned something here today. 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Logan: We’re still having major discussions about this. And you understand – and Michael touched on it – my members, the principals of schools, the assistant principals are concerned. The supports are not there. We want to make sure that everyone is safe in schools as we’re required to [inaudible] we’re doing it. We’re still having a lot of dialog. We’re going to see how this rolls out and we’re going to look at alternatives if things don’t work out. How do we do some rapid responses to places or to situations that we encounter? So, we’re still talking about it and we’re having a very adult conversation, not in the press. 

Mayor: Alright, we’ve got a theme. Alright, other questions on education? Lindsay?

Question: [Inaudible] deadline in June for the 86 renewal schools to have shown improvement – they had three years to show improvement. What is that going to look like over the next nine-ten months? What are you going to be looking for? And what do you expect to happen once you’ve hit that deadline? In terms of the supports, are they going to continue? Are they going to end? And, in terms of accountability. 

Mayor: I’ll speak generally and Carmen can jump in. Look, we think for a lot of renewal schools this effort is working, and there’s others that still have to prove themselves. And, you know, the original vision holds – that when we get to that three-year point, if a school is working – if it’s working wonderfully and no longer needs the supports, great. If a school – if the supports are working and making it better, we also of course retain the option to keep giving those supports and help build it up further. Some schools that are not working well enough would be subject to merger, because we also have concerns, even though there are – there’s certainly value in small schools. Some got too small and a merger may make sense for a lot of reasons. And then some could be subject to outright closure. We’ll do a whole process, of course, with the parents and the CEC, but we think there will be some that end up in that situation. But it’s really about evaluating through the year. There’s a set of metrics we’re trying to see and goals we’re trying to see reached. I’m encouraged by what I see so far – that, for most of these schools, this really has made a positive difference. But I certainly have no problem with the ones we think aren’t showing enough improvement – taking a different action. 

Carmen?

Chancellor Fariña: First of all, let me say that I actually have seen a lot of success in the renewal schools, starting with increased attendance. If you look at the schools that have increased attendance, it’s by far the majority. You can’t learn if you’re not in school. Our emphasis on making every renewal school a community school where parents are literally knocking on each other’s doors to make sure the kids get to school is one of our first steps there. The extra supports that we’ve been giving renewal schools in terms of what we called the DSR’s – people were actually working with teachers to improve their professional development is amazing. Also, if you look at some of our renewal schools, they’ve actually gone up in double digits. I believe, Mayor, you’re visiting one of those schools today. And we are looking at the schools that succeeded, or that really succeeded by a lot, to see what did they put in place that we can replicate in other places. I agree that there may be a few – and it’s really just a few – that, for whatever the reason – are not going to move in the right direction. And those, we might consider closure – not phase out – you know, giving a school a slow death is a terrible way to go. It’s where do you say there may be better options for you as a student and as a parent. But I also want to say that many of our schools have actually increased enrollment. Several of the schools – I know MS 50 right here nearby has increased enrollment this year. So, how do we support these schools? How do we make sure that we look at continuous progress? One of the things in one of the schools – the principal in District 5 – 123, I believe – she’s looping teachers – she’s taking teachers from first grade and moving them to second grade, because if you really have a successful teacher and you can start the first day of school with the same teacher, your chances of [inaudible] successful. So, we’re looking at really innovative ways in different renewal schools to ensure that all kids are successful.

Mayor: One last point on this – when we get to the point of saying that a school isn’t going to work out, we do provide parents and students with very specific options about where they can go. So, one of the big critiques we have of how the closures were handled in the past, as Carmen said, the long, slow death – a lot of kids left in this transitional never-land that didn’t work for them. We’re specifically saying, if your school didn’t work, here are seats guaranteed to you in one or more nearby schools that we believe are strong that give you a very clear option. So, it’s not that parents and kids are sort of sent out to the world – good luck finding something. We’re going to give them a specific option. 

Okay, on education? Yes?

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Yes.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: It’s very important and I agree with you. I think physical activity has a real implication for mental health and we’ve got to make sure our kids get it. We’re not where we want to be. Some of it is the reality of the physical [inaudible] of some of our schools. But we’ve got to keep finding new ways to get it done. We’ve put real resources in the last budget to expand physical education programs around the City. We’re about to go into the 10-year capital plan for the City. This will be a great chance for us to figure out how we can go a lot farther. But this is something Chirlane and I have talked about a lot. We think it’s really crucial that we find a pathway to every kid getting physical education. It’s daunting – I’m not going to underestimate the challenge, because some buildings, including in the district where I was in the school board – some buildings literally didn’t have gyms or anything you could use effectively as a gym. But we’ve got to find alternatives to get kids real physical activity. So, that will be a part of this upcoming budget. 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Chancellor Fariña: The enrollment we actually won’t know until the end of the day, Leslie, but maybe even by tomorrow we’ll have a better number. We’ll be happy to send you the enrollment numbers once we have them. Many of our middle schools in particular have worked on rebranding themselves and have added – and because of the community schools, they now have more after school programs that are very enticing to parents. I will say that our middle school in particular in one of the programs that has been particularly successful for academic growth – is something call MSQI, which involves a lot of technology and literacy, but also enhances student debate processes. So, that’s what I’m saying – we’re looking at why this school started the same as this school, and your school went up and maybe this one stayed the same. But rebranding I think is really important, and I think certainly some schools have done a very good job of that and others still have a long way to go. But we can get you that – I wouldn’t say today – probably by tomorrow because we’re still in the process in terms of – kids are coming in all day long today.

Mayor: Okay, I want to see if there’s anything left on education. Going once – going twice – just in time.

[Laughter]

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: We’ve been working with a lot of charter schools, as I said, and we found a higher level of cooperation as we’ve gone along in terms of sharing ideas between charter schools and district schools. Another very important point – you know, we invited charter schools and all sorts of schools, as you know, into the pre-K initiative, into the afterschool initiative, and plenty has been written about charters and pre-K, but I’d like to remember the many, many charter schools that worked with us on pre-K productively. We agreed on a set of approaches and it was a great success. So, we’ve worked well with KIPP. I’m happy to see their school and celebrate the first day of school with them, and I think it’s just an indication of the fact that there’s plenty of ways that we can work together with the kids. All of them are our children – every single child. All kids who go to a public school, whether traditional or charter, but beyond that, the kids who go to parochial schools will be the future of New York City too. So, we believe in an inclusive model and I’m looking forward to the visit. 

Alright. Thanks, everyone.