City Lawmakers Push For More Diversity In Public Schools
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There's a new push for greater diversity in New York City's public schools.
As 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported Wednesday, City Councilman Brad Lander is on board with leaders and activists supporting proposed laws to eliminate what he described as a segregated school system.
"And move them toward diverse places that look like New York and that help us learn like New York," Lander said.
In one piece of proposed legislation, Councilwoman Inez Barron has called on the state Legislature to change the criteria for getting into the elite high schools in New York City.
"One test is not a predictor of all that a student can achieve," she said.
The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation believes the test should be maintained, but that the city should provide test prep opportunities to students in middle school and beyond, Papa reported.
Another proposed bill would require the Department of Education to release an annual diversity report, Lander said.
"New York City's remarkable diversity is one of our greatest strengths, but we're failing to bring that diversity into our schools 60 years after the Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal is inherently unequal. We've got one of the most segregated school systems in the country."
Councilman Ritchie Torres, of the Bronx, wants the Department of Education to specify a diversity policy, Papa reported.
"The sad commentary on our city and our country that our nation's largest public school system remains stubbornly segregated," Torres said.
Lander said the City Council will hold a hearing on school diversity in November.
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