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Running for: Public Advocate

Political Party: Democratic

Current job: City Councilman in District 39, Brooklyn

Web site: BilldeBlasio.com

2. Have you received campaign contributions from the following education-related political action committees?

Democrats for Education Reform No
United Federation of Teachers Yes
Council of School Supervisors and Administrators Yes
New York Education Voters No
Educational Justice PAC No

3. Do you have children in the public school system? Yes If so, how would you describe their experience? 4 (out of 5)

4. Do you support programs like Teaching Fellows and Teach for America? Yes, with reservations. I believe these programs can make a valuable contribution but we must not rely on them to the exclusion of other programs and efforts to improve our schools. Additionally, we must not create a dynamic where those who enter the school system through these programs are preventing educators who have backgrounds or specific training in education from obtaining teaching positions.

5. Do you support efforts to stop the growth of charter schools? I believe that Charter Schools can be a valuable piece of our school system. We must ensure, however, that communities play a more active role in the Charter School siting process; that employees are able to freely organize; and that we continue to fully support and improve the quality of local schools once a Charter School comes into a neighborhood.

6. Would you preserve school report cards as they are now? No, I believe school report cards in their current form are confusing to parents and can be discouraging to schools.

7. Do you believe test scores should be a factor in determining whether teachers receive tenure? No, I have concerns about using student test scores for making decisions about tenure but do believe that a wide variety of information should be reviewed when evaluating teacher performance.

8. Do you support the 2009 law giving the mayor control of the public schools? Yes, but there should be more checks and balances limiting the mayor’s power

9. What letter grade would you give the city’s public schools right now?The gap in performance from one school to another is too great to assign a single letter grade to the system as a whole. Even though our City is home to a number of excellent public schools, we still lag far behind the State average in graduation rates and can do more for every student and every school. President Obama has set a goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.  Through investing in every single public school in New York City, we can take a leading role in meeting this challenge.

10. In the last eight years, have the city’s schools improved, stayed the same, or worsened? Over the last eight years, New York City schools have raised expectations for students, and more students are graduating from high school. But there is more to be done. The graduation rate of New York City students still lags behind the State average.  Even within the City, there are wide differences in graduation rates across high schools and across ethnic and racial groups, with African American and Latino/a students graduating at significantly lower rates than their white counterparts.

11. Do you support Joel Klein remaining chancellor of the city’s schools? I disagree with many elements of Joel Klein’s approach to our school system and believe public school students would benefit tremendously from an approach that included greater emphasis on parental involvement. Regardless of who serves as chancellor, we must ensure that the structure of school governance has adequate checks and balances on the leadership — including the Mayor and chancellor Klein — and that we use them effectively.

12. What’s an appropriate cap for charter schools, or should they exist at all (the current cap is 200 statewide)? Though I believe it is important to constantly evaluate the number of charter schools and the rate at which they develop, the focus should be on how they interact with communities and the school system at large. I believe that Charter Schools can be a valuable piece of our school system. We must ensure, however, that communities play a more active role in the Charter School siting process; that employees are able to freely organize; and that we continue to fully support and improve the quality of local schools once a Charter School comes into a neighborhood.

13. What’s the best way to improve a struggling public school? We must employ a variety of strategies to improve struggling schools. A few examples that can be implemented together include:

• Increasing parent engagement – Parents provide the support needed for students to attend school each and every day and to be motivated to achieve their highest potential. It is ultimately in the interest of our public schools to increase parent engagement.
• Student engagement – We must work to ensure that the school curriculum is vibrant and diverse. We must guard against narrowing the school curriculum to maximize test preparation at the expense of areas like arts and cultural activities, which can engage students in learning and school.
• New vision for education – It is time to re-think the relationship between New York City and its public schools. The relationship between public schools and the City as a whole should be a two-way street- this means bringing New York City’s diverse set of industries into schools, and helping schools become active participants in moving New York City ahead.
• Restoring Trust through Transparency – Providing real transparency and demonstrating a thoughtful, responsible approach to information will help to build a climate of trust in our schools that encourages critical examination of data and open discussion about approaches to education.

14. What’s the single greatest problem facing the city’s schools and what specific policy would you propose to combat it? As a public school parent, I know our City can do more to involve families in their children’s education. Parents who are informed, supported, and included in important conversations about education will help to empower educators, strengthen our schools, and increase accountability.

• Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights: I will promote a set of fundamental rights for public school parents intended to ensure that we treat parents, teachers, administrators and DOE representatives with the same level of respect, and provide parents with the appropriate tools to perform their role effectively. I have proposed a Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights to enhance the DOE’s current, narrower Parents’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. The Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights responds to numerous frustrations that I hear parents voicing in communities across the City. While the issues faced by parents may differ from one day to the next – one day it’s the DOE’s decision to suddenly change school bus routes in winter, the next day it’s kindergarten overcrowding – they consistently illustrate the need to better define and support the role of parents in schools. I will organize parents to build support for the Parents’ Bill of Rights and urge the DOE to adopt it as policy. In addition, I will utilize the Public Advocate’s office to realize as many of the individual rights for parents as possible. For example:
• I will help parents secure their right to “real and independent transparency, including access to academic data and budget information” through my role with the IBO Advisory Board and my authority to request information from agencies.
• I will help parents secure their right to “open lines of honest, respectful, two-way communication with local school representatives and Department of Education officials” through hosting Borough Education Forums and support for community-based Superintendent offices.
• I will help parents secure their right to “schools that grow with the community, respond to changing local needs, and have sufficient capacity for neighborhood students and their siblings” through my appointee on the City Planning Commission, who can help to ensure that the land use process accurately estimates and plans for the additional school capacity that is required by development projects.
• Community-Based District Offices: I will work with District Superintendents, community organizations and schools to establish community-based approaches for addressing local education issues. District Superintendents should have a physical presence in the community, as well as sufficient staff available to support students, families and schools. I will facilitate partnerships between District Superintendents and community based organizations to:
• Provide outreach to communities, parents and students regarding the services offered by the Superintendent offices.
• Ensure that the offices are sufficiently supported by recruiting volunteer parents and/or retired educators to assist staff, liaise with parents and schools, and conduct outreach.
• Parent Outreach and Engagement: I will increase parent engagement in schools by facilitating innovative use of internet resources. Many parents, because of family responsibilities, work or other obligations, cannot visit their children’s schools on a regular basis or have difficulty participating in bodies such as PTAs. In the age of the internet, physical distance should not prevent parents from participating in school issues. I will employ a variety of strategies for increasing online parent engagement including:
  • Webcasting PTA and CEC meetings, an initiative I have already started advancing through City Council legislation.
  • Providing parents with information about free internet resources in each district.
  • Encouraging schools to develop listservs and utilize social networking sites to build online school communities.