NEW REPORT & INVITE: Brown V. Board 70 Years Later – May 22, 2024 @ 7PM

Good Afternoon Community,

This month marks 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education – the milestone Supreme Court decision ruling that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. Here in New York we have a lot of work to do. Seventy percent of New York City’s schools remain intensely segregated, due to decades of redlining, gentrification and unequal access to schools with screened admissions. In fact, we have one of the most segregated school systems in the country.

How do we solve this multipronged problem? In a new report Intentional & Inclusive School Mergers co-authored with New York Appleseed, we offer one solution: The New York City Department of Education can help meet the class size mandate and reduce segregation with intentional and inclusive school mergers.

How do we know this works? Just look at the successful school merger that created Arts and Letters 305 United in District 13 (Brooklyn). In the fall of 2020, the Academy of Arts and Letters and P.S. 305 became Arts and Letters 305 United while schools were still grappling with COVID-19. The merger decision process was deliberate about framing the process through a lens of equity and integration. School and district leaders made intentional choices to involve the community in the decision-making process and did not shy away from addressing the apparent racial and socioeconomic differences between the two schools.

Arts and Letters 305 United is one of New York City’s few models for school mergers that explicitly center school integration. Our analysis of their merger process only bolsters this report’s recommendations that the New York City Department of Education should make the engagement, thoughtfulness, and central value of integration part of the standard model for all future mergers.

Read our report co-authored with New York Appleseed.

And join us in conversation & community on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Brown vs. Board 70 Years Later: The State of Integration in NYC Public Schools

Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller

Nyah Berg, Executive Director, NY Appleseed

Sadye L. Campoamor, Chief Equity Officer, Office of the NYC Comptroller

Meghan Dunn, Superintendent, Community School District 13, NYC Public Schools

Matt Gonzales, Director, NYU Metro Center

Mark Winston Griffith, Co-Executive Director, Free Speech TV

Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Director, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

Frantzy Luzincourt, IntegrateNYC Alumni, Strategy for Black Lives

Emily Muñoz, Chalkbeat Student Voices Fellow, Harry S. Truman High School

Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co-Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

Kindly share with those who you think would find this interesting, please RSVP as space is limited.

Yours in Service,