Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Hosts Press Confernce on Computer Science For All Initiative

September 22, 2016

Director Gabrielle Fialkoff, Office of Strategic Partnerships: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. I am Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships. I want to thank first off Dr. Ramon Gonzalez, our principal, for having us here today. He is truly an exemplary school leader and we’re very lucky to be here today. 

MS 223, the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology, truly offers us a window into the future when computer science education is available to all of our students. It is said that genius can be found in every zip code, but not necessarily opportunity, and that is really at the heart of why we are here today. Computer Science for All is the largest public-private partnership of the de Blasio administration – an $81 million-dollar initiative to bring computer science education to every one of our 1.1 million students. 

I am so pleased to be joined by all of our partners in this effort today. We have experts that are equipping our teachers with the knowledge they need to make this vision a reality. And our funding partners who are bringing us the resources to roll this out to every neighborhood in our city. 

In today’s world, our students need to be as fluent in reading and writing computer code as they are in reading and writing the alphabet. The tech sector grew 57 percent between 2007 and 2014 in our city, nearly six times the overall city-wide employment average. And before we launched this initiative, we know that too few of our students were receiving computer science education. And yet, in spite of this phenomenal growth, our employers are starved for talent, and we all know that talent is one thing we have plenty of in this city. But talent alone with not secure these future good jobs. Our students need opportunity. Opportunity paired with skills-based learning and the support of all of the stakeholders in this room will help us guarantee New York City a 21st Century workforce. 

Computer Science for All is yet another example of Mayor de Blasio’s commitment to public-private partnerships. Wedding the scale of government with the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector helps to create opportunities for all New Yorkers. I like to call this initiative a win-win-win – a win for our students who receive new skills and learning, who have access now often to computers in their classroom; a win for our industries all throughout the city who gain a local and diverse workforce; and a win for our city as our economy soars with this new generation of leaders. 

I’m so proud to be here today and to introduce our Mayor, whose vision for education in New York City looks to truly equip every student with the resources they need to be successful.

Thank you. Mayor de Blasio?

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you very much Gabrielle. And thank you for all you have done. I want to thank Gabrielle Fialkoff who has really put extraordinary energy, with her team, into this initiative and has done so much to build it out. So, congratulations to you.

This is a wonderful day and I am particularly excited because I got to get a glimpse of the future of New York City today. For those of you who were in the classroom that we got to visit – tremendous energy in the room – tremendous focus – young people learning intently and quite aware that they are learning the things that will frame their future. So, I was paired with a young woman named Amiah – which is A-M-I-A-H. And, you know, you would expect if the Mayor of your city sat next down to you, and you’re an eighth grader like Amiah, that maybe there would be a little nervousness on her part. She immediately jumped into trying to teach me what she was working on with the Python program. Now, I have to admit probably a few sentences into it that she was already over my level and that she would have to slow down. And Amiah was very graceful about it. And, you know, dumbed down the presentation so I could understand it. But what was wonderful was she had this tremendous self-possession. And she was quite clear that she knew her stuff and that it was going to be important to everything she did. It was just inspirational.

You know, one of the blessings of this job is getting to spend time with New Yorkers who immediately show you how bright our future can be. So that was Amiah. She is an eighth grader. I am guaranteeing you, get to know her now because she is well on her way.

But a lot of people made this work possible. I’m going to talk about everyone who has been part of this along the way, but I want you to understand this was an idea that really had to start from scratch. It had to be built, it was not a model that existed here in New York City. The resources weren’t in place. It was something we had to create. So, I want to talk about how that happened and the people who did it and why it means so much to the future of the city. But I especially want to thank folks who have joined us. Our labor union partners are so important to this process and I want to thank Sterling Roberson, UFT Vice President; and I want to thank the Assistant Director of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Laverne Burrowes; thank you to both you and your organizations for being here. And I want to start also by thanking the founding partners, here in New York City, of the Computer Science for All initiative; and they include Reynold Levy, President of the Robin Hood Foundation; Sara Lawrence of Citizen AOL; Kathy Wylde of the Partnership for New York City; and Marissa Shorenstein of AT&T. We thank them all.

And you’re going to hear from a number of people including Fred Wilson who has played such an important role in making all of this happen – been the real spark and visionary; you‘ll hear from a number of people involved in this. You’ll hear how different and how important this is for the future of our schools and the future of our children and the future of our city. So, the reality here is we’re preparing kids for 21st Century lives and that wasn’t true in the past, let’s face it – not just our school systems, school systems everywhere have been well behind the curve of what has been happening in our society. It was time to bring our schools into the 21st Century and acknowledge how central computer science education is to the modern world and the modern economy. Now, as I said, with Amiah learning the Python program; for her now, this is going to become second nature. For too many kids it has been something they haven’t had access to. So, this is why this matters so much. It is as essential a tool now as so many of the other basics that we all learned when we were in school. But it was unevenly distributed until very recently. The notion, bluntly, with computer science education, was it was for the few. It was for, in many ways, the privileged. We would never accept the notion that some kids get to learn math and others don’t, some kids get to learn the alphabet and others don’t. But let’s face it; it was a norm that computer science education was in many ways considered an elite activity. We had to break through that. We had to create the notion – this had to be universal by any notion of fairness and that is both a moral point and a practical point. By any notion of how we build the future of our city and the future of our workforce. So, just to put it in perspective, before this school year fewer than five percent of our public school kids learned computer science – fewer than five percent. And let me give you a couple other facts to put into perspective. In the year 2014, less than a third of the kids who took the AP Computer Science exam – that is a pretty small number of kids to begin with – but less than a third of them were girls. Same year, only 6.4 percent of all the students that took the Computer Science AP exam were African-American; only 12.5 percent were Latino. So, here we had a reality where the vast majority of the people of this city were not represented in this crucial part of our educational system.

This school did not have AP Computer Science until this year. This school – I think you’re already seeing a lot of great things are happening here and we thank everyone involved in this school; Principal, we thank you and your whole team. But before this initiative they didn’t have AP Computer Science. So, for kids here the way forward was blocked. They could only go so far. If you spend a few minutes with Amiah – just in eighth grade now; and heard again her poise, her self-possession, and her grasp of the subject matter you would immediately see that she is a young woman who needs AP Computer Science. This is going to be exactly what she needs to keep fueling her mind and her imagination. Well, until this year it didn’t exist. Now, it is something that is here for her and it communicates to her that she is meant for it. It’s a two way street. It gives her a sense of there is something to aspire to, but also says this is a skill that she fits, that she will be a part of in the future.

So, rather than only our highest performing schools – our most elite schools having computer science we are now in the process of making it universal. So, if ever there was a tale of two cities it was how we distributed computer science education. We’re ending that now. We’re changing that fundamentally. And this is part-in-parcel of the Equity and Excellence vision. Just spend a moment on this, we had – and we still have in many ways – an unacceptable status quo. I want to be very plain about that. The level of inequality in this school system is unsupportable. And the standards are not high enough – they have never been high enough. We’ve talked before, and we’re going to talk about it a lot more, that for this city for decades we’ve tolerated the notion of most of our kids not reading on grade level by third grade. That is something the Chancellor and I have said, adamantly, we will fix. And I want to be very clear how serious that commitment is. We’re going to do whatever it takes to right that wrong because we can’t fix the whole school system if we don’t get that right. We already are very proud of having addressed the gaping hole that was early childhood education by having pre-K for all. There is so much more to do. Well, this piece is so essential to Equity and Excellence. By having computer science for all universal across school system we unquestionably are addressing the equity problem because we had the most extreme in equity in terms of the distribution of computer science. Now, we’re going to make it universal, but at the same time we’re addressing the excellence question. How can you even conceive of excellence in education without integrating technology? How can it be an excellent education for today’s world if computer science is not a part of it? And it just wasn’t – and this is wonderfully bi-partisan. You look back over decades in this city these kinds of things were true in administrations of all different political persuasions. We didn’t do the things that were most essential. Now, we have chance to get it right. And we are blessed to have private sector partners who really believe in this too and want to be front-and-center in that process. That is making a big difference.

This will take time to build out. I want to be very clear about it. We’ve laid out that timeline. It’s going to build out over ten years. I’d like to say when we set those timelines that’s a maximum timeline. We can make that faster, we’re going to. But this one takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation. We’re going to have to basically teach a whole core of teachers who never had this as part of their training. We’re going to have to prepare a new generation of teachers to make this central to the work they do. So, we’re starting from scratch, but just because this thing takes time doesn’t mean we can’t get some quick results. So, the first result is reflected in this school year already – 246 elementary, middle, and high schools across this city are right now participating in Computer Science For All. So, again, in other cities if I said 246 schools it would be far greater that the size of the entire school system. In New York City it is a good strong start that we’re reaching 246 schools in the very first year and a lot more to come.

So, the AP courses, again, are going to be a crucial part of this equation. That is another part of Equity and Excellence. We had a city in which some schools had AP courses; they had them for years, for decades, others never had a single one. Our mission is clear, every single high school in New York City, regardless of zip code, will have AP courses. Again, a great opportunity for so many talented kids who can reach that level and a message – a message to every child they belong on that track to college if that is what they want, they have that chance. I said it is going to take real work to build this out. The training of teachers is a crucial part of this equation. This year already 450 teachers have been trained. That’s again, a huge compliment to start building this work, but over time it will rise up to 5,000 teachers. That is what we’re going to need to sustain this across our school system. This is a fantastic partnership as Gabrielle indicated. $40 million will come from the private sector, the remainder – the other half – from the City. And today we get to report to you that we have made real progress. Not only have we reached half of our funding goal from our private sector partners – we’re now at $20 million – but we are well ahead of schedule in that process; $9 million more we’re reporting today since we last met with you about this. And I want to thank those that are responsible for this generous support for this program including Math for America, the Robin Hood Education and Technology Fund, the John Paulson Family Foundation, the Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the Hutchins Family Foundation, the Association for a Better New York, and the Rudden Family Foundation, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Ron Conway of SV Angel and Nancy and Allen Schwartz. All of them made this possible and I would like everyone to join in applauding them and thanking them for all they have done.

[Applause]

So, I want you to hear from my colleagues. I want you to feel the fact that this is about our future. The fact is that the curriculum of yesterday was not enough for what we have to deal with tomorrow. We did not teach – we did not teach these skills. We have to teach these skills. This is how we build a future for every New Yorker. And it also is not just about the narrow question of technology skills or computer science skills. There is a thought pattern that goes with it that is very consistent with the bigger vision that Chancellor Fariña is bringing to our curriculum and our approach to education. We’re teaching problem solving; we’re teaching critical thinking. One of the things you see, and I certainly saw it today with Amiah, is when kids get deep into learning computer science they are constantly thinking of how to be creative; how to address challenges, not how to memorize something or simply repeat something, but actually use their minds creatively. So, this is crucial to everything that we need to do in the future. With that, I’m going to do one more thing in English and then just a few words in Spanish.

I do want to make a pitch. Again, with deepest thanks to all of our private sector partners who were so generous, so committed to this initiative. I think this is a great example to all the others in the private sector – these wonderful people came forward, not a minor matter to put together $20 million over such a brief period of time since we made the initial announcement. Fred in particular is a persuasive, persuasive spokesman. But we need to complete this goal. So, if there are any generous people within the sound of my voice, who care about the future of this city, care about the future of our children one of the best things you can invest in is Computer Science For All. And if you’re out there and you agree with this come see us or Fred will find you and we will get your help and we appreciate it.

A few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, the woman who makes our school system work every day – and she, I know, felt tremendous excitement visiting that classroom. By the way, the teacher in that classroom was once a student of Carmen Fariña’s in another time, proving her reach is extraordinary – our Chancellor Carmen Fariña.

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña: Well, it’s really pleasure to be here today, and I also want to thank my tutor for my lesson this morning. And it wasn’t just about what he knew, and it wasn’t just about the poise, but he’s also learning social skills. He very clearly said to me, that wasn’t your fault, that was my mistake. It was truly my fault, and it wasn’t his mistake, but he knew exactly how to get me going. So, I think he also has great models in his teachers because he understands how to teach, and I think that’s really important. 

I want to thank Ramon Gonzalez. This is the school I came to my first day on the job as Chancellor for very good reasons. Ramon has always put kids first. This started as a middle school – it’s now a [inaudible] – you’ll have your first graduating class this year. And that really is also an indication of someone who understands the commitment to students, goes way beyond just, you know, providing them a school day between nine and three, and I think what he’s done in the school is amazing. He recruits the best teachers. He’s also a master principal working in his learning partners, which means his influence is being felt by at least 12 other principals, and that is really something very, very special.

I think also the hardest lifts – or, one of the hardest lifts – besides raising money – Fred, and the rest of you. Fred is a very unique fundraiser, I think, because he also gets what happens in schools, and every time I go to schools with him he always asks the right question, and I think this is really important. And I’m hoping at some point Marissa won’t have to continue Girls Who Code because we’ll just assume that girls code, right? And that’s what we saw here today. We looked at the classrooms – it was 50-50 – 50 percent girls, 50 percent boys – and that’s really an important part of what we’re trying to do. But, to me, one of the key things of success has been how enthusiastically teachers have gone to professional development. And I want to thank Debbie Marcus who’s here from the DOE today because she has almost singlehandedly put together the professional development for teachers and we have actually more teachers who want to be trained than we have sites for. This summer alone, we had all these teachers practicing what they were going to back to their classrooms to do, and the enthusiasm for this curriculum is beyond amazing, and I think that’s really important.

This is also a community that has a tremendous amount of undocumented students who would not necessarily follow the normal path to college, but, having had this skill in their background, my feeling is they will be receiving scholarships and offers to many universities because they are the wave of the future, and they being representative of who our graduates are over time, and will be productively employed ultimately, is really what we want to be happening in all of New York City. But I could keep talking on and on about the skill that I know very little about, but understand that the same lesson that I had today from an eighth grader I get on a regular basis from my grandson who’s in fifth grade. And, to me, that is the beauty of this. This is one area where we have to let the children lead us. We have to let the future of tomorrow be the teachers to a large degree and inspire us to the best we can be. So, it’s actually my pleasure to introduce to you a ninth grader, Yaritza, who’s going to tell you her feelings about being involved in this program. 

[…]

Mayor: Thank you very much Mark. Alright, we welcome first your questions on this topic and then we will be taking questions on other topics as well.

Questions on this topic? Yes.

Question: Earlier today Comptroller Scott Stringer questioned the amount of time that CS for All [inaudible]. He said ten years is too long. He says, you know, essentially the administration is kicking the can down the road. I’m sure that is not the first time you’ve heard that criticism of this program. Would you respond to it and explain why it needs to take ten years?

Mayor: I think people who don’t run things often have simplistic analysis of the reality. So, this is – this woman right here is responsible for 1.1 million children and has a vast staff of hundreds of thousands to go ahead and take care of those children’s needs. The reality is it takes tremendous effort to prepare something that is going to reach every single one of those children; to train the teachers, to get every school into the program, to make sure the quality is right. The fact that we’re in 246 schools already suggests that this is something that is moving very quickly. But we also like to be straightforward about what it is going to take to build it out to its fullest capacity system wide. When I talk to other people around the country about the fact that we’re doing this in a fashion that will reach 1.1 million kids on a consistent basis they recognize that that is a herculean undertaking. But there is no doubt in my mind we’re going to achieve it. And certainly if we continue to see the progress we’ve seen from the private sector side I’d like to speed that timeline up even, but I am very confident that this is being done effectively and methodically.

Anyone want to add?

Chancellor Fariña: I think like all our others program we want to make sure the quality is as much as the quantity. And I think the Mayor is getting teachers onboard, getting universities to train teachers so that we don’t have to retrain them is part of our goal. So, this is all hands on deck and if you go around the City as I have been doing the last two weeks you’re seeing measures of this already in Kindergarten, you’re seeing it in first grade. I went to a third grade classroom last week where they were doing the algorithms. So, it can happen, but it has to be done right and it has to be done with conviction and depth. This is not about surface and getting a storm because all of a sudden you put two extra computers in a classroom. This is about making sure that the work that’s done is deep, thoughtful, and will last a long time. And in this particular science – and I am sure Fred will – as you learn something you have to learn something different the next day. So, this is not about you’re going to get a bible, follow the bible, and then move to the next step – but how do you constantly keep making sure that it is up to date.

Fred Wilson: I think the – the approach we are taking is a very rigorous approach. The teachers who teach the middle school computer science program in this building started four or five years ago in the SEP pilot. And we trained them for three years. And we trained all of our teachers over an extended period of time. So, this is not something that you can just have a teacher go to a one week long, you know, professional development course over the summer and all of a sudden they are teaching. This is something that to do it right we have to teach people who aren’t computer scientist themselves how to teach computer science. So, I would rather see us do it on a pace that can ensure that these teachers actually are teaching computer science and the kids are learning and that it works. And if that means it has to happen a little more slowly then so be it. You know, when I came into this I thought we could get it done much more quickly, but I’ve come to realize as the Mayor and the Chancellor have said that to do it right, you’ve got to do it right.

Mayor: Other questions?

Go ahead.

Question: What are the requirements for a computer science instructor now – what will they be. Is it one class per grade, K-12? How is kind of laid out?

Chancellor Fariña: We certainly have a scope and sequence and something that we expect to be done starting in the first grade. I mean, there is an actual framework. We have it. It is available, all schools and principals have it. And to me the most important thing is them having the sequence. What do you do at this age and what do you doing for the next age? So, we’re doing that and Debbie we have given that out citywide, correct?

Debbie Marcus, DOE: Yes, so everyone will be asked – will be required to provide [inaudible] elementary, middle, and high school [inaudible]. [Inaudible] at least experience in elementary, middle and high school for everyone.

Question: So it could be one per – one in elementary school, one in middle –

Debbie Marcus:  Yes.

Chancellor Fariña: Per grade. And it’s a very clear [inaudible] units –

Mayor: And every – let’s be clear – every school is going to make its own decisions beyond that so that is a minimum requirement across the entire school system. The vision here – to pick up on Fred’s point – is this has to be very rigorous; this has to be entirely up-to-date; it has to be because we want these kids to be able to think in the modern world and participate in every sense. I also will amplify it is important for them to be ready for the workforce on top of that. So, it has to be really, really good. And our private sector partners are always going to help us with the setting of the standards and the quality control. But what we’re saying here is a minimum – if you will – a basic right. Every child is going experience this on an ongoing basis. Now, some schools will go farther and be able to make it even a more central part of the curriculum, but this is going to be a standard that every school in the City has to participate in.

Chancellor Fariña: And also to get a head start on some of this – this summer we had 4,000 students enrolled in STEM programs, which is part of this work. And our anticipation for next summer is to have a lot more. So, it’s not just about what happens September to June, but how do we look at our summer programs. And this year, part of the STEM program was to train the teachers while they are still working. And what was very exciting about the programs I visited is to have students talk. I went into one classroom where they were doing Minecraft, another one they were doing Scratch. And every child there was talking about the programs, but more importantly the teachers were saying to me I am learning along with the kids. And the kits that we gave teachers they were able to take back to their schools. So, in addition to the places where we hoped to do deep work, we already have a lot of teachers excited about bringing some of the work back. And many schools are now asking can they do some of this during vacation breaks; can they do it after school. So the idea is to get excitement around it; get people trained and then move quickly.

Fred Wilson: I’d say one other thing – we expect at least ten percent of all middle schools and ten percent of all high schools to have a full year after year curriculum; a full four-year curriculum in computer science. And those will be the schools that will, you know, advertise themselves to the students and the parents that if you want to get the deep dive on computer science come to this school because they have the four-year intensive program. We expect at least ten percent of all middle schools and high schools to offer that.

Mayor: Other questions? Yes.

Question: What is the average AP score in this school for computer science in general and also citywide? And do you have any goals for AP scores?

Mayor: Again, this is the first year you have AP classes. I think – the medium is the message here. We’re in a school that epitomizes the Equity and Excellence vision both in terms of Computer Science and in terms of AP For All because this is the first year they have AP classes. But what was the second part of your question?

Question: Well, so the citywide average AP scores – and do you have goals for what you want students to achieve on the AP test?

Mayor: Are you saying on AP classes in general?

Question: AP tests.

Mayor: AP tests in general.

Question: In computer science?

Mayor: Do you want to get back to him on that?

Chancellor Fariña: We’ll get back to you.

Mayor: We’ll get back to you the specifics on that.

Chancellor Fariña: [inaudible] we have goals [inaudible] –

Question: With a finite number of hours in a school day as computer science expands, how do you make sure that you’re not displacing things like fine arts and other elective opportunities?

Mayor: One, I’ll just start as the non-educator – is that one of the whole key underlying ideas here is to integrate computer science education throughout the curriculum because it certainly has application in so many parts of the curriculum, but you can take it from there.

Chancellor Fariña: Well, just think about it, computer science is analytical thinking. It is about problem solving. It’s about being able to present your findings to an audience. It’s all things that are life skills. And the more you do this in the classroom the more it applies – you know, how you make a presentation on a social studies topic to an audience and how do you research it. So, to me it is all about blended learning in the sense that it is integrated into everything they do. And it is not an add-on. It’s actually tied in to everything else that they are doing, but also, getting them ready for the next step. And this school the next step is college. So, I don’t see this as a problem. I think that many principals are actually looking at it from the point of view – how does it enhance something I am already doing, but then how do I make sure those teachers in those particular other curriculum areas understand that technology as well?

Fred Wilson: Yeah, a great example of that is a program for eighth grade algebra called Boot Strap where the students do a module in eighth grade algebra where they learn to code in functions. And then, that teaches them algebraic functions. Algebraic functions are hard to learn. It’s the first time as a student you reach something in math that is all of a sudden abstract. And a lot of kids hit a wall there. And actually using code as an intervention is a very helpful thing. So, a big part of this is where does code help kids learn the traditional curriculum.

Mayor: Yes?

Question: You said that for this year, five percent or fewer than five percent of students are studying computer science. Do you have a number for this year with the initial expansion with all those teachers you trained in the 246 schools?

Mayor: So, the 246 schools – what does it mean for the overall number of kids?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I personally do not, but if no one here has it we will get that to you.

Director Fialkoff: We don’t yet have the number of students, but we know that we’ve of course rolled out to 15 percent, roughly, of our school system wide. So, as is – it’s just been a week. Do you have that number?

Debbie Marcus: [Inaudible] it takes a little while to settle exactly what students are in which classes, so we’re collecting that information right now.

Mayor: We’ll let you know for sure.

Yes?

Question: You mentioned certain schools have had this type of program. Is it the reason that the local elected officials have more computers and computer labs into the schools – in certain schools? This is the Speaker’s district if I am not mistaken – and you have a breakdown by borough of which schools have the programs?

Mayor: We can get you the breakdown by borough for sure. I think absolutely when elected officials help get technology in the schools it helped, the previous model -- at least helped maximize the chance that kids could have that exposure and that education. But this, to the point Fred made, is not just – you know – the hardware is available. Excuse me, this is teaching kids holistically across their whole education how to use it; how to make it a part of everything they do; how to think in a different fashion. And again, this is something that will be in every school. So, it is much less about did someone provide something it will be a guarantee across all schools.

Chancellor Fariña: And I just to reiterate hardware is not instruction. So, you can provide something that kids can go on, but getting the teacher to teach them how to use more than just busy work kind of is very, very different. So, I think it’s – we need everyone on deck including our elected officials. But I think it’s how do we combine all of those things to ensure that the teacher training – the professional development, the extra time on task is there in a coordinated fashion.

Mayor: Okay, yes?

Question: If it’s available in ten percent of the middle schools and high schools and demand outstrips that ten percent, is it something kids will be tested in too? Will they go in on a lottery? How do you get accepted into an advanced program?

Mayor: Well, I want to separate Computer Science For All from the Advanced Placement courses. I think – you’re asking a fair question, but I think it’s too different realities. Again, I’ll start as the layman in the group. Computer Science for All is going to reach everyone. There is no testing in; there’s no – you know – base level you have to meet. The idea is to integrate it entirely into the curriculum. The AP courses, yes, you have to reach a certain level to be able to take an AP course. But the central point there is there were many, many high schools in the City where you just didn’t even have the option because they had never been provided and there was no effort to provide them. So, you know, talk about equity 101. You can’t have access to a right if there is nothing there. You can’t move yourself forward if there is literally no option. And that is what most kids were experiencing. So, we are going to make that available in every single high school, but there still will be a process of how a kid gets the opportunity to take an AP class. You can speak more to it.

Chancellor Fariña: I think – you know – also to keep in mind it goes back to professional development. Not every teacher can teach an AP course, so it requires teacher professional development. And we’ve already started doing that and ramping that up substantially. And then particularly since so many of our high schools are co-located in buildings, finding what the different schools might do an AP course in and allowing students to take courses across schools in the same building. But again, students have to meet certain criteria in order to take these courses, but our expectation is to really substantially increase the number of kids who take them.

Mayor: In the back.

Question: You touched on this a little bit, but how is teacher hiring and training going? How are you planning to appeal to teachers with coveted skills like computer science?

Mayor: Well, I’ll start again. I want to emphasize this is something I think a lot of teachers are excited about. It’s an opportunity to deepen their skills. And again, I’ll brag about Carmen Fariña as the teacher’s teacher and 51st year on the job now – that – I just love saying that. Thee – she understands like any other profession people love to feel good at their profession – just everyone does. And they love to have an opportunity to get better and to add skills and learn new things. And so, teacher development – professional development is a crucial part of the entire philosophy of this school system now. And it is very much reflected in the last teacher contract – the additional time for teacher development. But in that same vein when you say to teachers you can learn this cutting edge skill that is going to make you a much better teacher and allow you to uplift your kids and a lot of teachers are very excited about it. So, it is about the existing teaching core and the teachers we’ll bring in. It’s less – from my vantage point – less we’re going out in the world and finding people who already know how to teach computer science education as much as we’re trying to move – and I think will move – the existing teaching core and new teachers come in with broad skills to be able to teach this as well. That’s my layman version.

Chancellor Fariña: I think, also, in this particular area teachers serve more as facilitators than standing in front of the room and preaching at kids. And I think that so many of our students already come to the classrooms knowing some basic computer skills that having teachers that are open to the new ideas – and I saw this in every summer program that I visited, students being able to say this is what I’m trying to do. And teachers are walking around saying ‘ahh now I get it.’ We offered 100 places for teachers to learn how to do fifth grade algebra in a departmentalized way. We had no problem getting teachers to step up the plate. Also, a lot of this work is teacher to teacher. This particular school is a learning partner school that has teachers coming from one of 12 schools – how many schools? By now I don’t even want to know – 10 to 12. This school has visitors all the time. We anticipate having showcase schools just on the computer science program. So, people can come; they can see; they can be inspired and then they go back, ‘oh, that’s what it looks like.’ It is a relatively new approach, so it is about people seeing what’s possible and then going back to their schools. And I am anticipating there are going to be some teachers that will say I will like to incorporate this into my English classroom and into my math classroom. I guess – this is not an add-on as much as it is how do we change the way we’re presently teaching and do sort of an integrated approach.

Fred Wilson: We see teachers dying for this. There are programs all over the country that are trying to help teachers get the computer science skills they need. And the issue is not getting the teachers excited to do it. I think the issue is having the funding to be able to pay for the professional development – quality, rigorous, long-term professional development to really give the teachers the skills they need. It’s – the demand is there we just got to supply it.

Mayor: Rich?

Question: But in order to do this, don’t you need – do you need more computers, more tablets, more laptops? And are the computer companies kicking in? Are they going to send you any freebies – you know – Apple and Microsoft and all those guys?

Director Fialkoff: This initiative leverages an over $650 million commitment on the public side to wiring, and infrastructure, and hardware. Our $81 million budget is programmatic and primarily paying for that teacher training for materials for the classroom, for rigorous evaluation we’re conducting. So, those companies are involved in our efforts in terms of professional development, in terms of curriculum, but, right now, not funding with cash contributions, but working with us in other ways. Does that answer your question?

Mayor: Yeah, I think we need to help Rich with some facts, which we can present after. I think for many years we had the reality where we weren’t even at first base because schools didn’t have any kind of technology in them. That has improved greatly over time. There’s still, again, inequalities, there’s still imperfections, but it’s less of the severe reality we used to have. But there’s more to do, so I think we can get you a clear delineation of sort of what we’re already investing in, in terms of hardware and that schools do have, where some of the gaps are, etcetera. Now, I will pick up on the note you raised and say, yes, I think whenever we find a need, we are shameless about going to our now thriving tech sector in this city and reminding them that some extra material would be very, very helpful to us. And I think there’s been a real willingness to, you know, contribute and to help. So, I expect that if we find particular needs that we can’t meet with public dollars, there’ll be a receptivity to helping us on the private side.

On this topic – I want to see if there’s anything else on this topic. Going once – going twice – okay, other topics. Other topics – way in the back?

Question: In regards to the pressure cooker that was found here in the Bronx yesterday here in Mott Haven –

Mayor: Yes.

Question: – the latest on that investigation – was it a [inaudible] hoax [inaudible]? And then, also, in connection to the suspicious package that was found down in SoHo – is this a result of New York City [inaudible] more vigilant in light of the Chelsea explosion and is it a good deployment of our emergency crews?

Mayor: Many questions – let me see if I can break them down here. No, they’re all good questions I appreciate it. I have been in constant touch in the last few days with Commissioner O’Neill, Chief Gomez, Deputy Commissioner Miller. We’re all talking all the time in this environment. First of all, what everyone agrees on is New Yorkers are responding in a very positive way. Not only is everyone showing their resilience and their support for each other, but people are picking up the phone and they’re going over to officers, and they’re reporting what they see, and we want that. Commissioner O’Neill’s been very clear – you know, the more reporting the better. Let the professionals figure out what the thing is, but, you know, we need to know. So, yes, the number of reports of suspicious packages has gone greatly up and that’s very good. And, yes, it’s a great use of our resources to go and check on those at this moment especially. But I would say, you know, even when this immediate moment passes, people should maintain that sense of vigilance. Thank God for the woman on 27th Street who, as you heard – if you heard her interview, she walked by one time, didn’t make much of that item she saw, then came back and thought twice and placed the call. So, we need people to do that. It’s a good use of resources for NYPD to follow up. From what I understood of the device below the Deegan – it was just a hoax. And one of the other things we see in this environment, and this is what the professionals made clear – the law enforcement professionals – is, you know, some people unfortunately choose in a moment like this to put those hoax devices out. I don’t know what would possibly motivate a human being to do that, but some people do that. Somehow it makes them feel special, but we have to take them seriously. We have to treat each one as if it might be real. 

Yes?

Question: A question for Ms. Fialkoff – who recommended Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg for the Mayor’s Inaugural Committee, since you were the chairwoman –

Mayor: Yeah, we’re just not going to go into that. As you know, it’s under – it’s under active investigation. 

Question: [Inaudible] investigators about those two men –

Mayor: It’s under active investigation. We’re just not going to talk about it. 

Question: This is open topic, Mr. Mayor –

Mayor: You could open topic but there’s still something we could say. We’re not in a position to talk about it.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Would you like to tell him you’re not in a position to talk about it?

Director Fialkoff: I’m not in a position to talk about it today.

Mayor: Thank you. Next question, please. Yes, sir?

Question: Mayor, I’m curious, are you going to watch the debate Monday. And, you’re a Hillary supporter – what does she got to do to beat Trump here?

Mayor: I will certainly watch the debate. I think it’s going to be a pivotal moment. I think Hillary Clinton is a very good debater. You know, we have no clue really what Donald Trump would do in a setting like this. The previous debates were underwhelming, to say the least. I think everyone in this room suffered through them. His opponents never gave him a real fight. I was stunned. I still to this day do not understand why his opponents were so soft on him and so incoherent in their strategies. Hillary Clinton is really, really good at this. So, I look forward to the matchup. I think she is doing a great job already of showing people how experienced she is, of showing people what a steady hand she would be and how unsteady Donald Trump would be as the leader of the free world. I think she’s doing great on that front. I think Donald Trump has already done everything one needs to see in terms of showing how divisive he is. It’s almost like you don’t even have to make that point anymore. What I want to see in the debate is her amplify what’s in her platform, which is extraordinary. It’s the most progressive Democratic Party platform in decades and it speaks powerfully to the economic concerns of every-day Americans. And there’s a lot of things that people need to understand better in that platform and she has a chance to really lay out some of those key points. 

Yes?

Question: Courtney Gross had a story last week where she discovered the City is helping some homeless families move out-of-state. Why is the City going down this road? And is this shipping the problem elsewhere? And what is –

Mayor: No, it’s a road we’ve gone down before and believe is appropriate. So, it’s not – shipping is the wrong word. It is people who come from somewhere else or have families somewhere else. So, for example, we have some people who come here who are not from here and get to a point of deciding that they want to go back home – who are, you know, in our shelter system or going to be in our shelter system and they want to go back home. Obviously, it is both more humane and better for the taxpayer if we help them get back to the place they come from rather than end up in our shelter system where they don’t want to be. But we also have people who they’re from New York but they have family members either in this area or in other parts of the country that they want to get to. Their situation is no longer viable. I spoke to a woman last year on the Lower East Side and it was very painful – a woman who had worked her whole life, unfortunately lost a rent-stabilized apartment probably because she was cheated out of it by her landlord, could not any way find a way to – she was older, she couldn’t make it work anymore professionally, she couldn’t pay the rent, but she had family upstate. And Steven Banks actually personally worked on this example and, you know, she – this case – she could not make it any longer in New York City. She didn’t want to be in a homeless shelter. She said, if only I could get to my family, if I could sort of get my stuff and move to where my family is that would be a way I could live. And we helped her do it because she was reunited with her family and she ended up with a much better life. So, I think those kinds of approaches are absolutely fair. The vast, vast majority of the people in our shelter system are from here. Overwhelming majority are from here, always been from here, and then there’s a smaller subset of people who are from here, go someplace else, come back. But very, very few are actually from out of town and just passing through – that’s a very small number of people in the shelter system. 

Yes?

Question: Mayor, I just want to get your thoughts – I’m sure you’ve probably seen by now that Joe Percoco, a former aide to the Governor, and several others have been charged in a [inaudible] bribery scheme at the State level. I’m curious what you [inaudible]?

Mayor: I have not seen the specifics of the charges. I haven’t gotten a full report so I really don’t have a lot to say about it right now. 

Yeah?

Question: There was a report yesterday that Anthony Weiner was contacting a 15-year-old girl. [Inaudible]?

Mayor: It’s horrible. I mean, it’s so sad and, you know, I have known Anthony over the years, but I know Huma much better, having served side-by-side with her during the 2000 Senate campaign. I think the world of Huma and I just feel horrible for her and her son that they’re going through this. It’s not a secret; Anthony obviously has a real problem that needs treatment. And all I can say is, I hope he will pursue the treatment he needs and stick with it until his issues are addressed. 

Yeah?

Question: Mayor, I’m sorry, quick follow-up on Hillary – you mentioned you wanted to see her show her platform. Can you go into specifics on what you’d like to see her do on Monday?

Mayor: You know, she’s running against a billionaire who has taken advantage of working people, taken advantage of the government, cheated his business partners, cheated the students at Trump University, and, meanwhile, she, in her platform, is calling for higher wages, higher benefits, higher taxes on the wealthy. You know, there’s an opportunity for her to lay out the profound distinction. Donald Trump is part of the problem. Hillary Clinton has a vision that will address the problems. And there’s a lot of people who are economically very, very frustrated in this country and we have to look it in the face and we have to be honest about it. She’s offering an extraordinary set of solutions. Nobody ever nominated by a major party has ever put together this combination of solutions. You’d have to go back to LBJ in one way and FDR in another way, but she’s actually answering the problem. And, if you know her, you would be quick to say she knows how to get things done. So, she’s got to lay that out for the American people in contrast to Trump having never done anything for working people.

Yes?

Question: In May, you promised us a list of folks who gave to the Campaign for One New York and didn’t get their way. It’s now been four or five months – we haven’t gotten the list. So, I’m wondering where the list is? And, second, when you, at one point, will be willing to answer questions like [inaudible] after the investigation concluded, will you have a briefing where you’ll disclose everything?

Mayor: Sure. I think the – first of all, we obviously have to get through certain investigations and when they’re concluded we can comment much more broadly on them. I think that’s also an appropriate time for me to lay out the argument I want to make to people to show what we’ve been saying all along. People who give donations in a democratic system – that is part of our system, it’s legal, it’s appropriate, it must be disclosed. The question is, does anything happen as a result of those donations – it shouldn’t – and our administration’s answer is no. Plenty, plenty of people had all sorts of ideas and aspirations that they just didn’t get anything on. We’ll be able to lay that out, but we have to get through this next phase of these investigations, hopefully wrapping up soon. 

Question: So, we’re not getting the list until after the investigations?

Mayor: I think that will make sense given what’s going on.

Question: Mr. Mayor, street fairs – apparently there are 200 of them per year in Manhattan itself, and we understand your administration’s going to be proposing some changes on the numbers of street fairs and who can take part. Are you aware of that? And –

Mayor: It’s not – look, it may be too strong to say we’re going to propose some changes. We’re looking at the issue because it constantly comes up. You know, these public events obviously are a blessing. They’re something a lot of people love and have a great time at, and they cause their own share of challenges too – congestion and other issues. So, we’re constantly trying to get the mix right, but I don't have an immediate proposal to offer, it’s something we’re just looking at because we get concerns from communities that we have to look at.

Yeah?

Question: In a city famous for its work ethic, how do you justify spending an hour and a half at the gym and then coming into work at a little after –

Mayor: I work – you know, I’m quite aware of what you guys are up to and, again, you are a paper with a clear right-wing agenda. Let’s be real about it, you’re a propaganda rag. So, the fact is, I work seven days a week, all parts of the day. Anyone who’s been Mayor of New York City will tell you, you can’t ever stop working at this job. But I also tell you guys, if someone is not taking care of themselves so they can be at maximum energy, you’re not doing the right thing by your obligations to the people. So, I’m perfectly comfortable with it. 

Question: Do you think it sends, like, a sort of message –

Mayor: No, it doesn’t send any message. Stop wasting my time. 

Question: A report came out earlier this week that showed in some cases Pre-K For All has more racially [inaudible]. I’m wondering if you’re concerned by that? What your general response is? And if you’re sort of going to look [inaudible] integrating things?

Mayor: Okay. The report looked at the first year, and, the first year, as you know, is when you’re building something from scratch very, very fast. We leaned heavily into the local community-based organizations – obviously, our partners – charter schools, religious schools. So, it was a much more localized approach. Now, we have a universal application system that give parents much clearer opportunity to choose across the City. And I think that is going to show up because, again, that report only looked at year-one. If you look at year-two, year-three, I think you’re going to see much more of parents going into different opportunities and more diversity being created. But, that being said, we’ve already foreshadowed we’re going to have a bigger vision that we’ll put forward about how we can do diversification work for our schools – something we believe in. But we also want to be clear about the limits of it, and I’m going to be very explicit about this as we present that vision. The problem is not an education problem, the problem is an American history problem. It’s the problem of structural racism. It’s a problem of housing segregation. Let’s not ask the schools to address all those problems simultaneously – that’s not viable. But there’s ways that we can do better through our schools. And, I certainly think if you talk to parents about pre-K and what it’s done for their kids, it’s been a success. So, we have to – the first mission is always to make the education system work for the kids to achieve onto itself equity and excellence. And it’s crucial distinction – if we want a more just city and a more just nation, then let’s get our school system to live up to a notion of equity and excellence. Separately, we have to do a lot in our society writ large to create more diversity and more opportunity across the board. 

Yeah?

Question: Mayor, there’s a hearing going on at City Hall right now about Build It Back, and I was wondering if you could weigh in a little on whether you expect the program to meet its deadlines for the end of the year and how much taxpayer money is it going to end up costing on top of the federal money that was received by the City years ago after Sandy?

Mayor: So, the federal money – first of all, we obviously – we’re working very closely with HUD, very closely with FEMA. We intend to use very federal dollar. As you know, Build It Back is one piece of the equation. The resiliency efforts are another piece of the equation. I think we’re in a very good place with the federal government in terms of cooperation and the fact that we will be getting reimbursement for a very, very substantial amount of what we’re spending. But we also said in the last budget in June that – excuse me – we’re about to enter a phase in general where ongoing resiliency work we’re going to have to fund in different ways because Build It Back and the resiliency money based on Sandy are all about to close out pretty soon. We’re going to enter sort of the post-Sandy funding reality. So, the City of New York is going to have to increasingly put its own money into some of these initiatives. Now, we hope and pray we get a federal government that wants to invest in addressing the effects of climate change. We’ll obviously look for every opportunity at the State level as well. But we already know the City of New York is going to be in the resiliency business for years and years to come. In terms of the specific dollars around Build It Back, we’re going to have a lot more detail on that shortly – we’re coming up on the anniversary soon and I intend to lay out exactly where the program stands both financially and in terms of the goals we’ve set. I can also tell you, right now, we remain positive because we have sped up the pace of construction intently over the last few months – got a lot more partners involved. We figured out how to resolve a lot of problems that were hanging in the air for a while. So, things are speeding up right now, but in the next few weeks I’ll be able to lay that out to you in detail. 

Question: Do you know whether you expect [inaudible] –

Mayor: Yeah. Until we get a more thorough analysis – I want to give you the whole picture. 

Okay. Thanks, everyone.