February 26, 2019 - American Public News

City Councilman Jumaane Williams was elected Tuesday as New York City’s next public advocate, the bully pulpit that holds no enforcement power but can amplify issues deemed important to New Yorkers.Williams, who has been on the City Council since 2009, was considered a frontrunner in the special race to fill the spot left vacant by now-Attorney General of New York State Letitia James. He will have to campaign again in a June primary and November general election.He is known for criminal justice legislation, his focus on affordable housing, and his involvement in advocacy and protests — including the civil disobedience arrests that came along with that.He has not named education as a priority for the public advocate’s office, instead focusing on government transparency and accountability, and the overhaul of New York City’s criminal justice system as a couple of his top issues.If Williams pursues an education issue, he’ll likely focus on school funding or will push for more diverse schools and faculty.“We need the governor and leaders across the state to stop the politicking and realize that our number one job is to adequately prepare our kids for their futures, and that means not shortchanging them when it comes to aid that the federal, state, and local governments owe them,” Williams said in a candidate questionnaire for Chalkbeat, specifically showing support for the much-debated lawsuit that developed a formula to send more state dollars to high-needs districts.Williams said he would primarily pursue school diversity by working with community education councils and the administration. He would also “work with advocates” to recommend policies for city and state lawmakers to adopt.On the hot-button issue of diversifying specialized high schools, Williams has stopped short of supporting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to get rid of the sole admissions exam in lieu of offering spots to the top 7 percent of students at each middle school.Williams is a graduate of one of the specialized schools, Brooklyn Tech, and in an NY1 debate earlier this month said the admissions test was the only reason he got into the elite high school. De Blasio’s plan has earned backlash, including from the Asian community — Asians make up 62 percent of enrollment at these schools.Williams said he does support multiple criteria and access points for admissions.Here’s how Williams answered our candidate questionnaire.What do you think is the biggest education issue facing the city, and how would you address it?“The source of too many of our education issues is the underfunding of our schools. My first priority as public advocate will be to continue to push for equitable funding of our schools. It is a shame that so many years after the court ruling in Campaign for Fiscal Equity that schools not just in our city, but across our state are not adequately funded. We need the governor and leaders across the state to stop the politicking and realize that our number one job is to adequately prepare our kids for their futures, and that means not shortchanging them when it comes to aid that the federal, state, and local governments owe them.Parents don’t send their kids to schools just to have no stake or say in their education. Because we are talking about kids, parents must be front and center of any decision made regarding that child, be it in the establishment of IEPs, where needed, or having a seat at the table when administrators or teachers decide to assign the child to any program. “What out-of-school factors would you address that could impact classrooms?“The fact that our city is segregated with housing reinforces segregation in our schools. Quite frankly, our schools have always been segregated and we’ve never fully realized the goals set out in Brown v. Board of Education. Even though legal segregation has long been unconstitutional, far too many of our schools remain separate and unequal; underfunded and devalued. We still fail to properly resource our schools, starting from the federal government on down to the city. I want to work with community education councils and the administration to adopt admissions policies that will increase diversity. More generally, I’ll work with advocates to produce policy recommendations that the state legislature, administration, and council should adopt in order to ensure proper funding, staffing, and diversity, both among students and faculty. I have been proud to support Brad Lander and Ritchie Torres’ work on this.”

Daily Archives: February 26, 2019

Jumaane Williams won the special election for NYC public advocate. Here’s where he stands on education issues.