History Repeats Itself in Brooklyn School Rezoning
P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, enrolls 70 percent of its students from outside the zone, drawing in families with its magnet program for math and science, dual language...
View ArticleA Rezoning Plan That Would Integrate Two Schools Draws Parents' Ire in Brooklyn
In order to address overcrowding, the Department of Education is planning to issue a re-zoning proposal for two schools in Brooklyn's DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights neighborhoods that would inadvertently...
View ArticleCity Refines Its Pitch to Rezone Two Brooklyn Elementary Schools
Following two town hall meetings earlier this month and thousands of online comments, education officials on Wednesday night presented a slightly more detailed version of its vision to redraw the...
View ArticleA Tale of Two Schools and the Push to Integrate Them
The Department of Education just released its new plan to rezone two schools in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Vinegar Hill.David Goldsmith, president of the Community Education Council for district 13 in...
View ArticleCity Will Hear From More Parents Before Rezoning Two Brooklyn Schools
During town hall meetings on a proposal to rezone P.S. 8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn Heights and P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams, families could at least agree on one thing: the city was moving too quickly...
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How a Legal Footnote Stymied Efforts to Desegregate New York City Schools
From the Bronx to Central Brooklyn, many children are racially isolated at their local elementary schools, as highlighted in last year's UCLA study that named New York City the most segregated school...
View ArticleLongtime Residents Witness Brooklyn Waterfront’s Changing Fortune
The older residents of Farragut Houses are the ones who remember what the neighborhood smelled like when there was a chocolate factory operating nearby."This neighborhood always smelled edible," said...
View ArticleRebranding a School for a Brand New Building
It's not school renewal, a label that triggers a host of interventions for low-performing schools. And it's not a school closure, technically. Nor is the city opening a new school — another process...
View ArticleDumbo Developer Proposes Schools in New Apartment Buildings
As New York City's residential construction boom intensifies, demand for school seats has surged. This scenario is playing out in parts of Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood, where a school rezoning...
View ArticleDumbo School Rezoning Talks Didn’t Include Us, Say Some Parents
When New York City education officials said they would convene small-group meetings to discuss a school rezoning proposal for two Brooklyn schools, many parents applauded. But now, a few weeks later,...
View ArticleParents Clash Over Rezoning in a Segregated Brooklyn School District
Yasmeen Khan, WNYC reporter covering education, and Rebecca Carroll, producer of a series of projects on race at WNYC, give an update on the controversial school re-zoning in DUMBO: how some parents...
View ArticleNew York City Approves Diversity Plans for Seven Schools
Seven New York City elementary schools will be able to consider factors like income and English language skills in an effort to increase student diversity at their schools, starting this application...
View ArticleCan This Man Make Gentrification Work for Everyone?
When Robertino Vasquez got out of prison two years ago and returned to his home in Ingersoll Houses, a public housing complex in downtown Brooklyn, he started hunting for a job at one of the many...
View ArticleDecision to Rezone Two Brooklyn Schools Now Rests with Parent Council
New York City education officials presented their final plan to rezone two elementary schools near the Brooklyn waterfront, putting the decision to approve or reject it in the hands of the Community...
View ArticleOpinion: Tackle Segregation in New York City Schools With District-Wide Plans
The Department of Education recently approved changes in the admissions policies of seven elementary schools to promote more diverse student bodies. While we appreciate that the principals wanted to...
View ArticlePower Lines: Changing a Culture of Segregation in New York Schools
New York has the most segregated schools in the country. And New York City is home to the largest and one of the most segregated public school systems in the nation – read that again: IN THE NATION. A...
View ArticleSchool Segregation Debate Hits Home in Bronx High School
It’s hard to say the Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters isn’t diverse. Almost all of its approximately 600 students are black and Hispanic, including many from different countries. But there’s one...
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In Rezoning Proposal, A 'Good' School Is in the Eye of the Beholder
For the first time since the school opened in 1965, P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams in Brooklyn could have a school zone that reaches beyond the children of Farragut Houses, the public housing complex...
View ArticleParent Council Readies for Vote on Brooklyn School Rezoning
The proposal to rezone two Brooklyn elementary schools comes up for a vote Tuesday, after the city took the unusual step earlier this fall to delay a vote and spend more time talking to people in...
View ArticleChange of Zone Lines Marks a New Era for Two Brooklyn Schools
Nearly four months after the city held its first contentious town hall meetings on the issue, a plan to redraw the school zones for P.S. 8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn Heights and P.S. 307 Daniel Hale...
View ArticleNew Steps Toward School Integration in Brooklyn
Two schools we've been following in DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights will be re-zoned to relieve overcrowding, which will (inadvertently) integrate one school.The CEC has voted to rezone PS 8 and PS 307 in...
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Demand for School Integration Leads to Massive 1964 Boycott — In New York City
After hearing too many "vague promises" from the New York City Board of Education to integrate the schools, civil rights activists in 1964 called for swift action: desegregate the city's schools and...
View ArticleYoung Students Call for More School Diversity
Eight-year-old Njideka Kene said she likes being in third grade at the East Village Community School. "Not to brag, but it has a lot of fun things," she said, describing its art, dance and music...
View ArticleDesegregation Proposal Depends on Parents' Choices
The website for the East Village Community School describes a multicultural curriculum that helps children "appreciate diversity" and develop an understanding of racism.Yet, a proposal to set aside...
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'Controlled Choice' for Integrating Schools: What It's All About
Some parents in New York City's School District 1 have proposed a system known as controlled choice in order to better integrate its schools. The school district includes the East Village, part of...
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How Downtown Manhattan Wants to Create More Integrated Schools
Click the player above to hear our story about a renewed effort to better integrate schools in one part of Manhattan. Click here to see how new admissions rules could change where students in District...
View ArticleWhat Eric Holder Learned From Attending Segregated Schools
As part of our series on school integration this week, we're learning about a 1964 plan that paired two schools in Queens: P.S. 127 in East Elmhurst and P.S. 148 in Jackson Heights.An alumnus of both...
View ArticleWhat New Yorkers Recall About School Integration Efforts of Earlier Era
In the heyday of the civil rights movement in New York City, top education officials tried to do something about school segregation, acknowledging the separate and unequal education offered students...
View ArticleBeing Culturally Responsive in Classrooms
As part of the WNYC series "Integration 2.0," Christopher Emdin, associate professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, creator of the #HipHopEd Twitter movement and Science Genius...
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How One Brooklyn Charter School Integrates With Intention
Efforts to desegregate public schools are gathering steam across the country, prodded by both grassroots pressure and the federal government. U.S. Education Secretary John King said recently that...
View ArticleWhat To Do About New York City Schools: Teens Weigh In
Students in the group IntegrateNYC4Mehave spent more than a year exploring segregation and possible solutions. Launched by teacher Sarah Camiscoli and students at the Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of...
View ArticleOpinion: Choosing a School When Race is the Main Concern
When I sat down with Nikole Hannah-Jones, a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, to talk about segregation in New York City schools, I thought we would have a casual, candid conversation as two...
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School Integration 2.0: How Could New York City Do It Better?
We’ve been talking all week about New York City's segregated schools — in fact, all school year. And we're not the only ones. A host of other media outlets, educators, parents, City Council members,...
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When the Doors to A Dual Language School Don't Feel Open to Everyone
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña is a big fan of dual-language and bilingual programs. In April, she announced 38 more of these programs will open in the 2016-17 school year. It is one of the tenets...
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