The NYC Department of Education’s report, “Equity and Excellence for All,” outlined their approach to foster learning environments that reflect the diversity of the City.  While the report was praised for its inclusive efforts, it was still met with some criticism.  Although it outlines potentially successful and beneficial efforts, the report is only a beginning step in changing the landscape of the public school system and tackling issues of diversity.

The general purpose of this report is to inform the public how the Department of Education is addressing the problems schools face with respect to diversity. The report begins with the statement that “the Department is reinforcing school diversity as a priority” (3).  On the surface, this appears to be an important priority of the DOE.  The word diversity encompasses many different forms, including racial background, socioeconomic status, and immigration status.  All forms of diversity need to be addressed, and the report subsequently proceeds to discuss them.  However, my biggest issue with this statement is that it implies diversity was not always a priority.  New York is a melting pot, with people from all different backgrounds living together as neighbors; this is what makes it such a great place to live.  Having the largest school system in the country, New York should have already had its schools be reflective of its vastly diverse population.

In my opinion, one of the more controversial policies was Policy 7; in it, the DOE plans to open new, high-quality schools and programs to foster diversity (11).  They “aim to open 15 new schools or programs over the next three years that have specific plans to serve diverse populations beginning with schools or programs opening in 2018.”  There are many benefits to this; namely, it will create more diverse classrooms.  Students at these schools will have access to great programs such as bilingual programs and STEAM, career, and technical programs.  These would greatly aid students coming from neighborhoods where these programs are not readily available.  However, a large controversy with this policy is that funds will be dedicated to building new schools and not allotted to fixing older, dilapidated ones.  Many schools are in desperate needs of refurbishing and upgrading.  While it is certainly a positive that these new schools will give students greater access to new programs, it comes at the expense of other students who could not attend them.  Instead of building new schools, funds should be used to increase STEAM and bilingual programs at existing schools who lack them.