One of StudentsFirstNY’s oldest chapters recently met to discuss the disproportionate number of unsatisfactory-rated teachers in low-income and communities of color. Floyd, a parent and the SFNY East New York co-chair, opened the meeting by welcoming all the new members and giving a recap of the work the ENY Chapter has done over the last year and a half. The members decided that in addition to working on school safety, they wanted to figure out solutions to increase the quality of teaching in District 19 in Brooklyn.
SFNY East New York Chapter member and parent Michelle give a personal and very emotional story of her struggle over the years to ensure that her children were enrolled in schools with quality teachers. Unfortunately, her story is all too common for East New York parents and illustrates the failure of East New York public schools to ensure all children have great teachers and an excellent education, as well as the failure of the NYC public school system as a whole to ensure quality public school options for all children regardless of where they live.
SFNY East New York Chapter member Sonia stated: “… some people have an emotional attachment to their neighborhood schools, but your emotional attachment should be to your children, not to the schools.
“I wouldn’t want to send my children to any school I have attended in my lifetime unless I received a great education at that school. If this were corporate America, ‘U’-rated teachers and ineffective principals would be out.
“We need to have a similar attitude toward our public schools and clean house from the top down – that goes for DOE officials, district-level leadership, principals and teachers.”
The parents of East New York are fired up and ready to go.
