NYC Parents and Students Call on Mayor de Blasio, the Schools Chancellor and Others to Make A Plan for In-Person 5-Days-A-Week School In The Fall
On the Eve of the 1-Year-Anniversary of the Schools Closed Announcement, Parents and Students Joined Together to Deliver a Petition to the DOE
New York, NY -- Students and parents joined City Council candidate Justin Krebs in City Hall Park today to deliver a petition signed by more than 1300 parents and teachers from Brooklyn and across the city calling on Mayor de Blasio, the Department of Education and other stakeholders to make a plan for in-person 5-days-a-week school in the fall. The rally came amidst a new report by Dr. Jay Varma, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s senior health adviser, indicating that schools had a low virus transmission rate across NYC.
““Parents, teachers, students, and administrators need a real plan to get back to school 5-days-a-week in-person in the fall,” said Krebs. “The plan should have adequate protections for teachers and administrators. And all stakeholders should know, as soon as possible, what steps the city is taking to have school continue, without interruption, in the fall.” Krebs is a candidate for City Council in District 39 and also serves as the secretary of the District 15 President’s Council. ”
Edie Best, a 4th grade Brooklyn public school student spoke at the rally in City Hall park. “I was so excited to hand over the petition. I’ve been waiting for a year to see my friends back in school,” said Edith Best, 9. “This petition is from all of us—parents, teachers, students, and my sister and me. Hybrid is great, but we want to go back to school and see our friends.”
After the rally, the group headed to DOE headquarters to deliver the petition signed by more than 1300 parents and teachers. Around half of the petition signers are from Brooklyn and a substantial number of signatures came from some of the zip codes hardest hit by Covid.
“I’m an NYC public school teacher and a parent. I want 5 days a week in person for myself and my child! I have been teaching since sept and feel safe and confident.” said one Brooklyn public school teacher in the petition’s comment section. “It’s not fair that kids in the suburbs can have school everyday. This will create more of a divide between low income and high income children. We can’t have them out of school for over 2 years! It’s detrimental to their education but also their mental health!”
The petition delivery comes on the eve of the 1-year-anniversary of the announcement to close schools. Last week, Mayor de Blasio announced that all students will be able to return to 5-days-a-week in-person learning in the fall and that there will also be a fully remote option, but the administration has not yet shared a plan with how to make this a reality.
Problems planning for the following school year are not new to the administration. In 2020 the plan detailing reopening guidelines was not distributed until weeks before the school year, leading to criticism from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders.
Experts have already predicted that the learning loss and economic impact of more than a year of lost in-person instruction will be devastating—with some estimates predicting 12.4 months of learning loss, an additional 1,100,000 high school dropouts, and an annual earnings loss of between $169-221 billion. Krebs and others rallied to demand a plan from the city so that schools can open, and stay open safely, throughout next year.