2022 Power Players in Education

A representative of Lower Manhattan for over 30 years, Deborah Glick has been an advocate for civil rights, reproductive freedom, animals and environmental preservation, the arts, and tenants’ rights. Glick was the lead sponsor of the Reproductive Health Act, codifying Roe v. Wade in New York State. She chairs the Higher Education Committee, and serves on the Ways and Means, Rules, Environmental Conservation, and Governmental Operations Committees, and is chair of the Assembly’s Intern Committee.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
Policymakers can ensure consistent and sufficient funding to allow proper planning to be done at the local level; develop strategies and create incentives to expand the pool of highly qualified teachers; publicly support teachers to reverse the trend of new teachers leaving the profession after short tenures; and work with colleges and universities to identify ways to reduce barriers for bilingual students to pursue teacher education courses.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
A truly safe environment — not just from violence — is one where basic services are clean and healthy: drinking water free of chemicals and clean, safe bathrooms. Classrooms need good ventilation and properly regulated room temperature. There needs to be space for daily recreation. An effective environment must include adequate supports in every school: a psychologist, a social worker and a guidance counselor to assist students in understanding their options and helping them reach their potential.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
It’s hard to identify only one, but since elementary school experiences — positive or negative — have a great impact on one’s school career, I’m reaching back to 6th grade. My teacher was male, one of only two male teachers in the entire school. He was very driven to not only cover the 6th grade material, but pushed us further and exposed us to math and science material I wouldn’t see again until high school. While there was too much competition engendered by his enthusiasm, I still have very clear memories of some of the lessons.

Debra-Ellen Glickstein serves as founding executive director of NYC Kids RISE, where she is leading the effort to build a first-of-its-kind universal community-driven wealth-building platform for New York City. Ms. Glickstein has spent more than 20 years spearheading public-private partnerships to advance community wealth-building and economic justice rooted in neighborhoods. She has served as the executive director of New York City’s Office of Financial Empowerment, and the vice president of strategy and program development at NYCHA. Ms. Glickstein is a co-founder of Urban Upbound and the Urban Upbound Federal Credit Union.

Jasmine Gripper is the executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education. She initially embarked on a career as an educator, but shifted to advocacy after realizing education policies steeped in inequity were harming children and limiting their potential. Jasmine is dedicated to empowering parents, students, and community members to dismantle systemic racism in education to create well-resourced, high quality, culturally relevant community schools in every Black and Brown neighborhood.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
New York policymakers need to listen to the demands and concerns of parents, students, and educators, especially the concerns of Black, Brown and immigrant families.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Schools need to be well-resourced in order to offer students the opportunities they need to succeed. Classrooms need to be culturally responsive to uplift the diverse cultures and languages that make up our schools and communities.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
I attended Community School 21 in District 16 for elementary school. The school was an excellent example of parent, family, and community engagement. Parents were always in the building to assist with programs and activities. The school building was open well into the evening with activities for students and their families. The school’s faculty mirrored the student population and uplifted our culture throughout the school building, programs, and curriculum.

Andrew Hamilton became the 16th president of New York University on January 1, 2016. Under President Hamilton’s leadership, NYU has made significant advances. Applications for first-year admission have increased by 40 percent, and the University welcomed the most selective and diverse freshman class in its history. Since President Hamilton’s arrival, NYU has increased its research expenditures at a rate higher than any other U.S. college or university. It has reached all-time highs in rankings of both national and international universities. At the same time, President Hamilton put into place the lowest year-to-year increase in cost-of-attendance in two decades, in support of his priority of making NYU more affordable and accessible. Before coming to NYU, Dr. Hamilton served as the vice chancellor of Oxford University, a post he held since 2009.

Faraji Hannah-Jones is a parent advocate, integration activist, and public school supporter. He serves as a member of the steering committee for the Alliance for School Integration and Desegregation and as a second vice president of the Community Education Council for New York City Public Schools District 13. Faraji is an “army brat” who attended Department of Defense schools and developed a deep understanding of the power, the promise, and the possibility of integrated, well-resourced schools. Faraji believes in parent involvement and engagement; equitable schools for all students, with a focus on low-income students of color; and prioritizes his advocacy for Title 1 schools. Faraji works for the ACLU and lives in Brooklyn with his wife Nikole and his daughter Najya, who attends an unscreened, neighborhood Title 1 school.

As a founder, Franklin Headley has served as VOICE Charter School’s principal for 14 years. He prioritizes instilling students with a love of learning and empowering their families to support them. First in his family to attend college, Frank earned degrees at Harvard, Columbia, and CUNY on scholarships. In 2016, he was named RFK Urban Educator of the Year. During the pandemic, Frank turned the school building into a food pantry and laptop distribution center for the community. He serves on the Board of the Jacob Riis Settlement House.

On August 23, 2004, Russell K. Hotzler became the eighth president of New York City College of Technology, bringing to his position a wealth of experience in higher education and a deep commitment to enhancing the academic opportunities afforded to the students served by the City University of New York. During Dr. Hotzler’s tenure at City Tech, enrollments have risen by 4,000 students and the full-time faculty has grown by 130, now totaling 415. Significant curriculum reform has been underway and faculty and student research has expanded rapidly. The College has launched an ambitious program of renovating and enlarging its physical plant to provide technically advanced instructional facilities for its expanding professional programs. The College has gained substantial public recognition for high-tech workforce development in areas essential to economic growth. Prior to this presidency, Dr. Hotzler served as the vice chancellor for academic program planning at The City University of New York, a position that held system-wide responsibility for planning and program initiatives.

A graduate of the University of Virginia and NYU School of Law, Rafiq received the Echoing Green Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs and an inaugural Black Voices for Social Justice Fund Award. Prior to founding Ember Charter School, Rafiq was a corporate associate with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and then executive director of the AnBryce Foundation. As well as being a co-founder and board member of the New York Black Latinx Asian Charter Collaborative, Rafiq serves on the Board of Echoing Green, The National Charter Collaborative, and as president of the NYU Law Alumni of Color Association.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
To better ensure equitable access to quality education, New York policymakers should pass the Racial Equity and Diversity in Public Education Act (READ Act). Passing the READ Act will not only increase the number and efficacy of charter schools founded and led by people from historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities, it will simultaneously increase the number of Black and Latinx teachers in our public schools. Each of these legislative strategies are proven to be among the most impactful for empowering and amplifying academic success for those who have had the least access to high quality education.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
The most important resources for engendering safe and effective learning environments are the loving, hard-working and studious adults who work in these spaces. In order for our children and youth to grow into positive, thriving people, they must be surrounded by practitioners who work and lead with joy, who nurture wonder and court a deep and sincere love for oneself at the intersection of a genuine respect and appreciation for the culture of others.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
While my elementary school experience was an amazing one, with an education rooted in a deep love for Black people, fueled by a fierce exhortation that we learn to live an empowered life, it was my transition to a majority White middle school that stands out most. When I arrived, the teachers and administrators there assumed that the education I received at my previous school was somehow deficient and placed me in the “low” track class, which, coincidentally, was nearly all Black. Yet they soon learned the truth: I would go on to graduate #1 from their school.

Julie Jackson is the co-chief executive officer of Uncommon Schools, a network of 53 urban public charter schools serving 20,000 students from low-income communities. Before serving as Co-CEO, Jackson served as president, chief schools officer, principal, and teacher, as well as trustee to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Throughout her career, she has trained over 30,000 teachers and leaders globally and her commitment to improving public education has earned her several honors, including the Teacher of the Year and TFA’s Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
If we’re serious about encouraging more young people of color to consider careers in teaching, then we really need to re-think our entire recruitment and retention processes. As a matter of policy, New York makes it very difficult to become a teacher and stay a teacher — even more so if you are a person of color. It’s time to revamp the teacher preparation process so that we can truly fill the needs of our public schools.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Kids will know if you love them. If they feel that you love them, they will let you push them to achieve at a very high level. Our schools are focused on making sure our students feel seen, loved, and that they feel they have someone to talk to about what’s going on. They are learning tools to help them express their feelings and we’ve seen how positively that has impacted their readiness to learn.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
When I was in 8th grade, a traumatic event happened in my life, and my school decided to lower the bar for me. I really disagreed with that. And I see it happen all over America every day. As a society we have lowered the bar for a lot of children from low-income communities or from Black and Brown communities because we think the kids can’t handle it. The kids can handle traumatic experiences if the environment has already been set up to see them, love them, and help them work through challenges while achieving their goals.

Senator Robert Jackson has taken on difficult fights on behalf of New Yorkers and never backed down; in his first elected position as school board president, he launched the Campaign for Fiscal Equity school funding lawsuit, walked 150 miles to Albany highlighting the cause, and won a court judgment that awarded $16 billion for New York City public schools. In his 12 years on the City Council, he sponsored the Small Business Jobs Survival Act and more. As state senator, he champions public education, worker’s rights, climate justice, gun safety, and more.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
Making class size reduction a priority will support educator retention and student success. Smaller class sizes is one of the few proven reforms that narrow the achievement and opportunity gap between income and racial groups. Smaller classes result in: better grades, test scores, and stronger engagement; fewer disciplinary referrals and higher graduation rates; and likely cost savings through fewer special education referrals or private school placements.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
A better focus on the overlapping areas of mental health, school discipline, and physical safety addresses the interconnectedness of school environment issues.

Using restorative justice practices to address student behavior holistically provides a safe environment for students to grow and learn. Ineffective and biased discipline policies have pushed the state’s most vulnerable and marginalized students — BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and students with disabilities — out of their school communities.

• Class meetings
• Facilitated circles
• Conferences
• Peer mediation

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
Perhaps one of the many great learning experiences that stands out from my education was how my track coach Irwin Goldberg, through kindness and outstanding mentorship, helped me get into the upward-bound program. This changed the course of my life and put me on track (no pun intended) to accomplish many good things and become the advocate I am today so that we can finally deliver education justice in the lives of the most vulnerable New Yorkers. As I’ve often said, ‘Education is the key to uplifting all people.’ And Coach Goldberg is a prime example of that.