Education authorities prepare for the start of the third school year affected by the immigration crisis

Last fall, when the school year began, the City authorities were New Yorkthey were very clear that the number of newly arrived migrant students, who also lived in shelters, amounting to 20,000. A few weeks after the first bell for more than 910,000 children and young people to return to the classrooms, It would be very difficult to calculate whether this number has increased or decreased.

“Hundreds of children come during the summer. And the parents themselves were not sure if they could stay in the city. Or they move to other places. It is very difficult even at this time to have a clear balance. Last year many went into the middle of the year. Others left New York and so did the classes. They are families looking for a new path. And that always means changes,” he said The Diary village store.

As says Ecuadorian Miguel López, 28, with two children enrolled in a school in Brooklynif they confirm in a few days that they will join a job in the north of the state, they will not hesitate to move: there is almost no work here, even if they miss a few weeks of classes, the decision to we are doing it for their future.

However, what leaders of the nation’s largest public education system are clear about is that the “welcome” system for new students has been revamped, after two school periods affected by the migration crisis.

“As we have done, since we launched the Open Arms Projectwe will continue to work with students, families and partners to ensure that new students have everything they need in our schools. And that we are equipped to meet those needs,” he explained. Nicole Brownstein, spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education (DOE).

Special workers for migrant children

Public schools have 400 employees who work in schools and shelters to help new students and their families integrate into the school community.

As Brownstein says, to help students with mental health needs, they have more 165 health centers in schools and 202 school buildingswith mental health clinics serving 350 schools.

“In our schools, social workers are available to provide mental health prevention and intervention services, including individual, group, family and crisis counselling. All this, with an emphasis on trauma-based practice,” he said.

The English Challenge

The other challenge for the school system is the increasing number of new students, English language learners. most coming from Latin America and West Africa. More detailed from Venezuela, Ecuador and Central American countries.

“This number increased from about 135,000 in the 2022-23 school year to more than 148,000 last year, based on new demographic data. “English language learners now make up 16.3% of the school system, up from 13.3% in the 2019-20 school year.”details of the Chalkbeat publication.

Given this fact, the city spokesperson said that there are several programs to support students who are learning English, including bilingual plans, bilingual transition plans to the new language . Translation services are also available to help families integrate into this whole school process.

“The Open Arms Project shows the effort to support our students and schools. We support the school registration process, access to mental health programs, and transportation to and from school. Regardless of immigration status or the language spoken at home, all students deserve access to high-quality schools.that meet your specific needs”, Brownstein emphasized.

In fact, for several years education quality organizations have made it clear that there is a severe shortage of teachers in the Big Apple in fields such as sciences and arts. Therefore, it was predictable that the last school year, For many schools welcoming hundreds of new students, there was a lot of pressure.

“The hiring of bilingual teachers and assistants in Spanish and English was not enough to face the immigration crisis. What we saw was good intentions from all the school’s teachers, but in many cases there was one person, or two, or any teacher who could meet this great demand in a school. We will see what happens for the next period which starts soon. “said the Queen’s teacher.

The data:

• 40,000 students in temporary housing have been enrolled in New York City public schools since July 2022, and about 22,000 of those students enrolled in the last school year.