Save our city: Stop overcrowding schools and classrooms
Mayor de Blasio says he wants to save the city.
As someone who’s spent years fighting ridiculous crowds at my workplace, I have a great idea. How about, instead of gallivanting around the country running for president or supporting your favorite candidates, you figure out a way to accommodate the thousands of students who haven’t got seats in Queens?
Francis Lewis High School has been over 200% capacity for decades. We take everyone, including students with severe disabilities who will never receive a regular diploma, and the kids I teach, English Language Learners.
If Mayor de Blasio wants to save the city, placing a cap on admissions in overcrowded neighborhood schools would be a great start. Maybe instead of trying to sell space to Amazon, we could use it for our own children.
In 2009, when I became the union chapter leader of FLHS, we met at Tweed with higher-ups in the UFT, the DOE, the principals’ union, and parents to work out a plan. We made a deal to reduce the population of Francis Lewis, which was built for 2,100.
For a few years, we made progress. We came down to 4,012 and aimed for 3,500. Soon after Mayor de Blasio was elected, his Department of Education, in its infinite wisdom, CONTINUE READING: Stop overcrowding schools and classrooms