Andrew Friedman

Civl Rights Showdown

It couldn't have been how Mayor Bloomberg wanted the week of Martin Luther King's birthday to start. Acclaimed education author Jonathan Kozol published a feature article, "Segregated Schools: Shame of New York City", on The Gotham Gazette web site that drew attention to the fact that New York City public schools are among the most segregated in the entire country.

Kozol referred to a recent study by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard to help make his case. The study found that the population of many New York schools is significantly segregated. For example, about 60 percent of all black students in New York State, including those in New York City, attend schools that are at least 90 percent black. Also, more Latinos in New York State than in any other state go to schools that are 90 percent or more Latino. Kozol lay the blame for this segregation, and the fact that it is increasing, squarely at the feet of Mayor Bloomberg. Kozol insists that separate cannot be equal, and it is imperative for Bloomberg to address this problem head on.

Mayor Bloomberg was also catching heat from The Daily News' Albor Ruiz who wrote an excellent article, "What's Mike Got Against Ed Equity", about the Mayor's continued opposition to the City Council's recently passed Education Equity Act, legislation that promotes equity and parent involvement by requiring City schools to provide translation and interpretation services to the one out of every four NYC parents who don't speak English.

Yesterday, Council Member Robert Jackson was appointed to Chair the Council's Education Committee. Jackson, also a Co-Chair of the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, has been a firm supporter of the Education Equity Act, and was on the steps of City Hall last week with scores of parents and Council colleagues to call on the Mayor to sign the bill.

Mayor Bloomberg has until tomorrow to veto the Education Equity Act. If he doesn't, the act will become law. Even if he does veto the legislation, the Council will likely override his veto. Nonetheless, we can hope that the recent scrutiny of the civil rights record of New York City schools on Mayor Bloomberg's watch has caused the Mayor to reconsider his opposition to the Education Equity Act. We'll know by tomorrow.

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Posted at 7:09 AM, Jan 19, 2006 in Civil Rights
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