By Nina Doster, the parent of 2 children, one of whom attends a charter school and one who attends a district school and a Parent Organizer for StudentsFirstNY
For too long, I’ve seen and heard how wealthy parents in New York City can pick and choose where to send their children to school. Unfortunately, parents in neighborhoods like mine in Southeast Queens don’t have the same sort of options. While our zoned schools chronically struggle to provide our kids with a top notch education, most of us can’t afford private or parochial schools. To make matters worse, the few charter schools in the area have long waiting lists. Parents like me are concerned about the state of our schools and we’re fed up with Mayor de Blasio for telling us to just sit quietly and wait for improvements that may never come.
When Mayor de Blasio came into office, he promised to address inequality in New York City. But when it comes to our kids’ education, it seems like Mayor de Blasio doesn’t think families living in struggling districts deserve a choice in where to send our kids to school. He won’t approve any more charters, even though parents are demanding them. Instead, the Mayor likes to argue that he’s making “changes,” but he doesn’t even promise any results for 10 years. That’s not nearly fast enough for kids who are trapped in struggling schools right now. He’s against charter schools for political reasons, but his political agenda isn’t helping kids in my neighborhood learn how to read or improve their math skills.
Read the full oped on Medium.
