Members of the City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (BLAC) along with the council’s Progressive Caucus defended embattled Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza yesterday on the steps of City Hall. The members pushed back at a rival group of lawmakers who are calling for his resignation.
The group of lawmakers pointed out that Carranza inherited a public school system rife with inequities in education quality, allocation of disciplinary measures, and school admissions procedures. They also lauded the Chancellor for his recent adoption of 62 recommendations to foster fairness and equity in the city’s schools – recommendations written in collaboration with students of color who are directly affected by these issues.
“From the outset of his tenure at the Department of Education, Chancellor Carranza has shown himself to be responsive to the concerns of our communities of color and determined to provide every child with the opportunity to achieve academic excellence,” said Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus Co-Chair, Council Member I. Daneek Miller (D-Cambria Heights, Hollis, Jamaica, Jamaica Estates, Laurelton, Queens Village, Springfield Gardens, St. Albans). “His forceful and robust actions at DOE have threatened to upend a status-quo that has enabled our public schools to be among the most racially segregated in the country, and the Chancellor’s critics have offered no solutions to address the systemic issues of inequality that have plagued the Department for generations. We need equity, fairness, and diversity in our public school classrooms and curriculum, and the attacks on Mr. Carranza undermine the fulfillment of goals that we as New Yorkers should all be able to embrace.”
“It is in the lived experiences of black and Latinx students across all five boroughs that we get a full picture of the racial disparities that exist in the New York City public school system,” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Member of the Progressive and Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (D-Williamsburg, Greenpoint). “As our city works to reconcile the inequities in our school system, students and leaders of color should be driving the conversation and dictating what is and isn’t working. I support Chancellor Carranza’s efforts to integrate our school system, and I will continue to work as a legislator to make our schools fair and accessible for all students.”
“Chancellor Carranza’s efforts to integrate and diversify the city’s public schools are historical,” said Council Member Adrienne Adams, Vice Co-Chair of the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (D-Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, South Ozone Park). “We finally have a Chancellor who is brave enough to tackle the pervasive issue of racism in the New York City School system. Chancellor Carranza is willing to have difficult conversations and provide necessary training regarding diversity in an effort to give our educators the tools that they need and our young people the educational opportunities they deserve. It will not be an easy task to advance equity in our schools but I stand with Richard Carranza in his efforts to repair this broken system.”
The chancellor has faced serious backlash, a $90 million discrimination lawsuit filed against him in May has been followed by a bipartisan effort calling for his removal. The lawsuit was filed by three white veteran DOE administrators who claim they were demoted in favor of less qualified candidates of color in an effort to diversify the field.
The letter to Mayor De Blasio calling for Chancellor Carranza’s removal was drafted by City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, Woodside) and claims Carranza has made employment decisions based on race, not merit. They also claim he is putting the department staff in a position where they are made to feel uncomfortable about their race. Cronyism, merit-less demotion of employees, and releasing divisive statements are some of the allegations that have the author and co-signers nettled.
“It is no surprise that anyone leading the fight against segregation will face serious backlash, but I am disappointed to see so many of our colleagues pile on to attack Chancellor Carranza’s leadership,” said Council Member Brad Lander (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) , Member of the Progressive Caucus. “We are lucky to have a Chancellor with the courage to lead the effort to diversify and integrate our city’s schools. New York City’s schools are some of the most segregated in the country, and we have so much work to do together with the Chancellor to ensure that every student has the resources and the opportunities to succeed.”
City Council Member Peter Koo (D-Bayside, College Point, Flushing, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Fresh Meadows, Whitestone), one of only Asian-American members of BLAC [the other being Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan], was among a group of lawmakers that signed off on a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio calling on him to fire Carranza if he “continues to divide this city.”
Koo, like many of the electeds from the Asian-American communities, is particularly concerned that Carranza wants to scrap the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) to further diversify the city’s elite academic schools – a move that would cause less seats to be given to Asian-Americans, who see the test as color blind.
Other signatories to the letter include City Council Members Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens), Paul Vallone (D-Queens) Joseph Borelli (R-SI), Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) and Chaim Deutsch (D-Brooklyn). Assemblymen Peter Abbate, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) and William Colton (D-Brooklyn).
“I am greatly distressed that the divisive tone of the chancellor is dividing our school system and pitting one group against another. I fear his words branding some groups as “privileged” and advocating for selection for admission of specialized high school to be by such factors as race and geographic locations of schools, rather than by merit will distract from the real function of the NYC DOE Chancellor to improve the education of all children,” Colton said.
“The comments of NYC DOE Chancellor Carranza seems more interested in implementing a divisive social policy rather than in improving education, and that is not what we need. I thank Councilman Holden for reaching out to me to address this issue. I believe that NYC DOE needs a Chancellor who will bring us all together not to divide us and enforce a better education in our schools for all of our kids, with no child should be left behind. Education must be a number one priority; education is the future in today’s society for our children. Our children are our future,” he added.
But both Carranza and de Blasio continue to stand by the new initiatives.
“We’re adopting changes that will expand opportunity for all students and ensure our school system better reflects the diversity of New York City,” said Carranza.
Carranza says he is being persecuted because he is a man of color. “There are forces in this city that want me to be the good minority and be quiet,” he said to other media outlets. “It’s always kind of rich when there are inequities happening in the system and the minute you start pointing out those inequities and actually working to change those inequities it becomes ‘divisive.’”
