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“Chancellor Carmen Farina has dedicated her career to public service, and no one can question that she has fought tirelessly for what she believes in. However, after four years of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control of public schools, far too many low-income students remain trapped in struggling schools. We hope that the next Chancellor will push the Mayor to embrace evidence-based policies and parental choice," said StudentsFirstNY Executive Director Jenny Sedlis.

Leading education reform organization StudentsFirstNY issued a new report called Burying the Evidence that analyzes previously unreported findings from the 2015-2016 teacher evaluation ratings. In past years this data was widely released to the public, but this year, the State Education Department (SED) posted the ratings with little to no public engagement. 

More than 200 public school parents joined with StudentsFirstNY and prominent clergy leaders today to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio rethink his decision to force unwanted teachers into New York City schools. The call to action comes just days before de Blasio’s self-declared October 15deadline to place 400 teachers from the Absent Teacher Reserve into permanent positions.

Mayor de Blasio Must Take Action to Boost College Readiness & Eliminate Hidden Tax on NYC Families

(New York, NY) – More than 200 students and parents joined leading education reform organization StudentsFirstNY on the steps of City Hall today to bring attention to a hidden tax that is costing New York City high school graduates an estimated $63 million annually. This “Remediation Tax” affects 21,000 New York City college students who have graduated from city high schools but are unprepared for college-level coursework. CUNY students are speaking out about how the Remediation Tax impacts their college experience and future opportunities.

"New York City charter public schools are continuing to show us poverty is not destiny in the greatest city in the world. Charter public schools offer the promise of closing the achievement gap and today's results show they are delivering on that promise. It's been almost 20 years since New York passed it's charter law and these public schools are now out of the experimentation phase: not only should their lessons have more reach, but so should they," said StudentsFirstNY Executive Director Jenny Sedlis

StudentsFirstNY is a grassroots education advocacy organization dedicated to improving public school options throughout New York State.

"Today's data show unequivocally that Mayor de Blasio will harm children if he follows through with his plan to force place unwanted teachers into classrooms. The data confirms parent concerns: a third of the ATRs have disciplinary issues, many are ineffective, and a jaw-dropping 25 percent haven't been able to get a job for at least six years. There is not one parent in New York City who would willingly accept one of these ATRs into their child's classroom. It is unconscionable to put the worst teachers into the classrooms of the neediest students," said StudentsFirstNY Executive Director Jenny Sedlis. 

(Park Slope, NY) Public school parents from low-income communities across Brooklyn joined with StudentsFirstNY to rally outside the Prospect Park YMCA, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s favorite weekday hangout spot. The reason? They want Mayor de Blasio to reconsider his new plan to force place teachers from the Absent Teacher Reserve back into the classroom. But instead of engaging with these concerned parents (and voters), Mayor de Blasio turned his back on them and drove away.

New York, NY – More than 200 parents and students gathered on the steps of City Hall today to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio respond to the Freedom of Information requests that StudentsFirstNY has filed on their behalf. The average FOIL request from these parents has been kicked back 16 times. Parents feel their requests for information have been deflected, dodged and denied and they are giving the Mayor a grade of “F” on transparency.

New York, NY – Leading education reform organization StudentsFirstNY released a report today analyzing Mayor de Blasio’s Progressive Redesign Opportunity for Excellence (PROSE) program which he promised would be the union-backed answer to charter schools. In 2015, Mayor de Blasio boasted, "This is going to be a national model for reform, and one that I think is going to bear fruit very quickly."

Unfortunately for New York City students, a close examination of the program shows that PROSE is neither a national model for reform, nor one that has borne fruit. 

“Despite the rhetoric from Mayor de Blasio, it’s clear that PROSE schools are not as effective as the charters they seek to emulate,” said Jenny Sedlis, Executive Director of StudentsFirstNY. “PROSE was billed as the union’s answer to charter schools, but by definition, real innovation means challenging the status quo – something this Mayor is incapable of doing.”