New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson alongside City Council member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Gravesend), Education Committee Chair, this week released the Council’s 2018 report, Planning to Learn: The School Building Challenge.
The report is a detailed analysis of the space challenges faced by New York City’s public school system and a comprehensive set of recommendations to address the ongoing and severe overcrowding that exists in New York City’s public schools.
“The greatest city in the world deserves educational facilities to match. While the City has made significant new investments in our children’s education, there is more we can do.We hope this report spurs new opportunities for collaboration between different stakeholders that support the Council’s efforts in providing the best educational opportunities to the youngest New Yorkers,”said Johnson.
According to the the watchdog group, Class Size Matter, 43% of city schools were overcrowded last year according to DOE data and about 575,000 students (over 50%) were enrolled in overcrowded schools.
The report calls for greater accountability in the school planning process, and provides recommendations that can help expedite new school construction in order to alleviate overcrowding including advocating for the Schools Construction Authority (SCA) to receive Design-Build authorization from New York State.
“As a former educator, I know all too well how difficult it is to both learn and teach in an overcrowded classroom. That’s why I’m proud to be part of a Council that is actively engaged in solving issues like school overcrowding,” said Treyger.
The five-point plan includes such recommendations as making it easier and faster to build schools, describing the overcrowding problem accurately in regards to data, giving the public and decision makers the information they need, increasing the use of other approaches to reduce overcrowding and foster diversity and exploring new funding strategies.
“This working group and the resulting report provide valuable recommendations on how the city can better coordinate efforts to create a more transparent, effective, and equitable school siting plan,” added Treyger.
For the report, the city council heard proposals and concerns from a wide variety of stakeholders including Community Education Council members, parents, education advocates, real estate developers, architects, elected officials, and the School Construction Authority.
The report along with potential legislation stemming from the findings, will be addressed in a combined committee city council hearing in April with the Education, Land Use and Finance Committees.
