center for immigrant families

New York

August 4, 2009

A system that does not work for our children

This column was originally published in Spanish in El Diario. The Center for Immigrant Families (CIF) joins others across the city and nation who are working for justice and equity in our public schools-one of our last remaining universal public goods in the United States. Public education is a human right, not a luxury, and our schools should nurture the development and learning of every child. As parents, caregivers, and concerned community members, we want schools that reflect, respect, serve our communities — and that draw upon the rich resources within our communities as sources of learning and support. Mayoral control and the system we have now does not support this vision. Instead, under Mayor Bloomberg, a top-down, business model has been imposed on an educational system that promotes high-stakes and punitive testing.

New York

February 5, 2009

A group urges the legislature to stop and think on mayoral control

A petition advocates will send out at tomorrow's Manhattan hearing on school governance. A coalition of progressive groups has become so fed up with the…

New York

December 9, 2008

Elected parent leaders learned of school closure by e-mail

It's déjà vu all over again for parents as the Department of Education reveals its latest round of school closures. Last year, City Council members complained that the DOE announced school closures without first discussing them with community members. Like other parent advocates, council members argued that the DOE's actions were in violation of the state's education law, which requires the chancellor to "consult with the affected community district education council" before closing or substantially changing schools. But despite the outcry, the district-wide community education councils aren't any more in the loop this year. "The CECs were notified the same day the staff was told" at each school, DOE spokeswoman Melody Meyer told me today. For District 15's CEC, at least, that notification came in the form of an e-mail yesterday afternoon, after the principal of PS 27 had already been told her school would be closing in June, according to the council's president, Jennifer Stringfellow.

New York

November 18, 2008

District 3 missed chance to talk about equity, comm. group says

The group that proposed eliminating zone lines to combat segregation in District 3 elementary schools isn't happy with a parent council's resolution about rezoning the district. The Community Education Council for District 3 decided last week to take a simple approach to rezoning, recommending that two schools move to new buildings and that zone lines around two others be tweaked. Some in the community had opposed the plan on the grounds that the changes would make school buildings more segregated. But the CEC said it wasn't permitted to consider diversity in the rezoning discussion. In a public letter, the Center for Immigrant Families, which has long pushed for more integrated schools in the district, says it is "beyond comprehension" that the CEC's resolution lacks "even a mention of what is equitable or fair."

New York

November 6, 2008

In District 3, advocates say zone lines should disappear

CIF's 2003 report about segregation in District 3 Rather than tinkering with zone lines, District 3 should do away with school zones altogether and instead institute a near-random lottery for school placement, advocates for the district's immigrant families say. The Center for Immigrant Families says students should be assigned to schools not because of where they live but by a lottery that takes into socioeconomic status into account. This type of admissions system, called a "controlled choice" program, would be radical for New York City. Cambridge, Mass., has had a controlled choice policy in place for more than two decades. Some parents in Cambridge say the policy is too formulaic and are advocating for a return to neighborhood schools, the Harvard Crimson recently reported. In a letter sent yesterday to the Community Education Council for District 3, CIF argues that the district's residential segregation requires attention: "The catchment seats increasingly reflect the gentrifying reality of our neighborhoods and further cement segregation."

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