Could Albany take away control of the city’s public schools? – Telemundo New York (47)

The future of New York City’s public schools was the No. 1 topic at a city budget meeting Tuesday morning.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks on Tuesday unveiled a school budget for a school system that Albany could vote to dissolve.

There are more than one million students and staff in the New York City public school system. Lawmakers in Albany are now debating whether to keep that system the same or break it up into 32 different school districts.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, K-12 enrollment in the city’s public schools was around 900,000 students. However, this year, it is around 820,000. That’s a decrease of about 9%.

Some people, like state Sen. John Liu (D-NY), who sits on the education committee, said leaders need to take a hard look at the reason for the decline.

“It is the lack of parental engagement that has led many parents in New York City to withdraw their children from the New York City public school system,” Liu said.

However, Mayor Eric Adams is pushing to keep control of the schools and points to clear advantages in a centralized school system, as it has been for the past 20 years. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg implemented the change, and former Mayor Bill de Blasio has renewed it multiple times.

Adams believes that a centralized system allows for better coordination, including resources as well as system-wide funding for emergencies, such as dealing with COVID-19 and virtual learning.

In discussing the fiscal year 2023 school budget, which is over $35 billion, the chancellor supports the mayor retaining control of the school system and requests the support of the City Council with a financial plan moving forward.

“We are keeping our promise to not only engage with this Council, but to directly incorporate their feedback in hopes of shaping our budget and policy decisions,” Banks said. “That is the true partnership that we will continue to foster.”

The lawmakers’ decision will be made within the next month. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of thousands of families in New York City who are paying close attention to see what will happen to the New York City public school system.

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