TESTIMONY
Adriana Alethea on Addressing De Facto Segregation and Ensuring Education Equity in NYC Public Schools
4:16:49
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162 sec
Adriana Alethea, a New York City public school parent and CDC member in Community School District 28 in Queens, calls for action against de facto segregation and for education equity.
- Alethea underscores the ongoing issue of de facto segregation in District 28 and its adverse effects on educational equity.
- She advocates for increased transparency and accountability in reporting school demographics and class sizes to better meet student needs and promote equality.
- Alethea encourages public participation in holding the department of education and the school construction authority accountable by reaching out directly with inquiries.
- Expressing a deep commitment to New York City, she concludes with a passionate plea for the Department of Education to reflect the excellence expected of what is often dubbed 'the greatest city in the world'.
Adriana Alicea
4:16:49
Good afternoon.
4:16:50
Can you hear me?
Khalek Kirkland
4:16:52
Yes.
Adriana Alicea
4:16:54
Fabulous.
4:16:55
Thank you.
4:16:55
Thank you, council members, and many thanks to you.
4:16:58
Chair Joseph for your leadership and your candor during this meeting is greatly appreciated, and I'm going to submit my full testimony in writing.
4:17:07
My name is Adriana Alethea.
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I'm a New York City public school parent, and I am a CDC member in Community School District 28 in Queens.
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I'm testifying here today in my capacity as a parent who remains deeply committed to advocating for an equitable and quality education for all New York City school students.
4:17:25
Unfortunately, as you know and as the public heard today, District 28 is one of the districts that continues to be deeply affected by the deal with negligence leading to the current de facto segregation in our district.
4:17:37
Transparency and accountability are crucial and ensuring that every child receives the quality education they deserve.
4:17:44
By reporting actual class sizes and student demographics, we can better understand the needs of our students and allocate resources more effectively.
4:17:52
This data will also help us identify areas where additional support is needed, and that will ensure that our students have an equal opportunity to succeed or as close to equal as we can get.
4:18:04
Having said that, I wanna echo Statements made earlier today by Michael Sill and by the folks from the class size matters project, as well as many of the parents who testified after that.
4:18:16
I'm not going to restate those in the interest of time.
4:18:19
Instead, I want to take the opportunity to encourage the public to backtrack the statements made by members of the chancellor's cabinet and the school construction authority.
4:18:28
You can email them directly with any questions and their contact information is posted on the DOE and SEA websites respectively, and I encourage you to email them until you get an answer that you are satisfied with.
4:18:39
The last thing I want to say is is this.
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I've lived in this city my entire life.
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I grew up here.
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My partner grew up here, and we have chosen to raise our child here.
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I love this city.
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I've never considered living anywhere else.
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Brooklyn is in my blood like it literally wouldn't even be possible for me.
4:18:55
But recently, between the DOE selection of mandated curriculum.
4:19:00
I know you can't see me, but curriculum is in inverted comments there for folks at home.
4:19:04
The rubber stamp is squandered resource pipeline that is the pep and the lack of true oversight and levers of accountability and so on.
4:19:11
I also just wanna say we're not in California.
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My child deserves better.
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Your child deserves better.
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Our children deserves better.
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And frankly, This is the greatest city in the world.
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Right?
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That's what everybody says.
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It's well past time that we demand the DOE act like it.
4:19:26
Thank you again, Chair Joseph, and please extend my thanks.
4:19:29
To all of the sponsors of this incredibly important film.