From the NYC Department of Education report, “Equity and Excellence For All,” we can see NYC’s endeavor to create a classroom with equity and diversity. It shows that NYC is trying to remove its title of having “the most segregated schools in the country”. DOE states its goal clearly in this report: 1. To increase the number of students in a racially representative school by 50,0002. To decrease the number of economically stratified school by 10% 3. To increase the number of inclusive schools which allow ESL students and students with disabilities to attend.
The general purpose of this report is pretty much straightforward: To address the current problems regarding diversity and equity in our education system. According to the report “New York State’s Extreme School Segregation: Inequality, Inaction, and a Damaged Future,” NYC has “the most segregated schools in the country,” where many students are not only isolated by race, but also by income. It is ironic that NYC, which is considered as the most diverse city in the world, has failed so completely to represent such diversity in its education system. Therefore, the diversity stated in this report does not only refer to race and ethnicity but also refer to different socioeconomic statuses such as income, family education, and occupation. The goals of this report can be summarized as to stress diversity during school admission, to help students who come from a lower income family, to provide funding for students who have special needs such as ESL (English as second language) students, to create a friendlier school environment to students from every background, and, most importantly, to eliminate educational inequality among students. The report has made it clear that the DOE is working on letting students from diverse backgrounds receive equal access to better education. It is an important step toward the desegregation and equity of our education system.
However, some of its policies still remain in question. For example, in Policy 10 DOE is really vague on how do we create a more welcoming school climate for all students. Even though implementing a restorative approach is a good start, it is only a small part of having a welcoming school atmosphere to all students. As far as I am concerned, a good school climate is one of the most important things to a school and DOE should be really clear and specific on how to make this happen.
Even though many of the DOE policies have many flaws, it shows DOE’s determination to promote equality and diversity among many of the public schools in NYC. I hope that when DOE gradually implements those policies, it can also find the many drawbacks in these policies and improve them.
The way I see it, the overall pessimistic and/or unsatisfied nature of the responses is rather unfortunate. The extreme lack of classroom diversity across racial, ethnic and socio-economic barriers is obviously a problem, and while most of the idea for solutions are not incredibly detailed or thought at, at the very minimum it shows a earnest and sincere positive attitude towards change for the better. It even makes a point in proclaiming early on that “First, with the launch of this report, the Department is reinforcing school diversity as a priority.” Showing that this although this is a new direction or prioritization at least for the DOE, it is important nonetheless and will be handled with care. Perhaps it is not unreasonable to assume that the reason the current suggested changes seems so meager or inconsequential is because brainstorming what to do to invoke the desired changes and how to implement them into current schools and school systems has only just begun. Point 10 in particular was brought up as vague, but a specific example of the types of changes they meant was stated in “Changes in school climate interventions seek to address disparities that have adversely affected black students with disabilities, who have been four times more likely to be suspended than their peers”, although, granted this is only one example, and the point doesn’t apply its message generally well and is given far less explanation text than most others. On the other hand, the fourth point ‘Expand Diversity in Admissions pilots” is explained rather well in what exactly the goals are, what has already been done and what will be done, as well as a timeline that is soon and optimistic. Overall, while I agree that these steps are far from perfect, they are still progress, and over criticizing those who make progress may discourage them to continue or others to try. Could these steps be better or large? Absolutely! Should we complain so vocally about it? I say no.
Thanks for this, Demian. I appreciate the contrarian stance, but your language is very vague. When you write about “the overall pessimistic and/or unsatisfied nature of the responses ” do you mean on this blog, from your classmates, or do you mean more generally? Similarly, when you write: “Point 10 in particular was brought up as vague” I’m not sure to whom you are responding. Try to write active-voice sentences that will help you to be more clear.