New York City Schools preparing for influx of children of asylum seekers: "We are very confident that the students will be ready"
NEW YORK -- Gov. Kathy Hochul met with White House officials about the asylum seeker crisis Wednesday, seeking more federal aid for New York and expedited work authorizations to get the asylum seekers on the path to self-sufficiency.
This comes as city officials say the flow of asylum seekers continues unabated. More than 2,900 asylum seekers arrived in the city last week, and 107,300 have arrived here since last spring, including thousands of families with children.
With schools set to open next week, with or without a bus strike, New York City moves into the next phase of coping with the asylum seeker crisis -- finding space, funding and teachers to meet the needs of thousands of children who speak more than a dozen languages.
"I want every parent, every caregiver and every student to know that the New York City Public Schools are here for you, regardless of where your journey began," New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks said Wednesday.
Watch Marcia Kramer's report
Banks and city officials insist that New York City is doing everything it can to prepare for the influx of migrant children who have come to New York City since last spring. He said that when school starts on Sept. 7, there will be at least 19,500 migrant students in the system, requiring the city to hire more than 3,400 English as New Language teachers and more than 1,700 bilingual Spanish teachers.
But with asylum seekers arriving here speaking more than 15 different languages and the flow of arrivals continuing unabated, the chancellor said he is working with the teachers union -- the United Federation of Teachers -- and others to hire even more bilingual staff.
"We have been meeting with the UFT and we have been meeting with the state to talk about how do we meet this need," Banks said.
- Read more: New York business leaders send letter urging President Biden to send help in asylum seeker crisis
Advocates say the magnitude of the problem has not been easy to deal with.
"We know from our work on the ground that there have been a lot of delays in enrolling students. We've met families just recently this past week that have been waiting two to three weeks to hear back about a placement, and we have other families who submitted their paperwork and still haven't heard back and are very worried that by next week they're not gonna have a placement for their children," said Rita Rodriguez-Engberg, of Advocates for Children.
CBS New York political reporter Marcia Kramer asked the chancellor about those charges. His chief of staff, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, responded, saying there is a one-week processing time and issues with part-time staffers who need to be paid overtime.
"We are very confident that the students will be ready, will be enrolled and schools will be ready by September 7th, and any school that has any issues, we have our superintendents and our central project, Open Arms Team, ready to support them," Aviles-Ramos said.
Oriana and her 16-year-old son are staying at a family shelter for asylum seekers in Midtown. It took them three months to get to New York from Venezuela, and next week, the teenager starts high school on the Lower East Side.
In Spanish, she told CBS New York's Ali Bauman, "I'm extremely nervous. My son does not speak English. I don't know how he'll do his first day of classes."
"We are making sure that they have the language access that they need, and we're helping them to transition to their new school environments," Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said.
- Read more: Gov. Kathy Hochul calls on Biden administration to expedite work authorization for asylum seekers
With Hochul at the White House seeking more federal aid, Williams-Isom again attacked the feds, pointing out the irony of New York City helping the feds by sending a team of experts to help respond to Hurricane Idalia while they do nothing for us.
"We too are in the middle of a crisis, and we are asking the federal government for help, help which is in their power to give," she said.
Banks also said Wednesday, "This year, we completely changed our school funding formula to provide additional funding to schools based on the number of students in temporary housing that they enroll."
The Department of Education says space isn't the problem -- more than 120,000 families have left the city's public schools since the pandemic -- but advocates worry some migrant children are falling through the cracks.
"Often times, newcomer families need a lot of support with the enrollment process, and we're concerned there isn't sufficient staffing from the Department of Education at all the shelters to make sure those families are connected," said Jennifer Pringle, project director of Learners in Temporary Housing at Advocates for Children.
Migrant students are not just going to public schools.
"We have schools that have immediate openings. We put them in, and then we start to coordinate staffing," said Emmanuel George, superintendent of Democracy Prep.
George oversees 13 charter schools across the five boroughs. They've been independently reaching out to shelters to enroll 40 asylum seekers and counting.
"Some of them are already in school doing work with Spanish-speaking teachers who can help them make the adjustments and also make sure they're part of our community," George said.
Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams ups the ante again. He is going to headline a huge rally in Foley Square to demand that the federal government expedite the ability of the migrants to get work permits.
