REMARKS
Council Member Rita C. Joseph opens oversight hearing on remote learning failures in NYC public schools
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Council Member Rita C. Joseph, Chair of the Education Committee, addresses the remote learning challenges faced by New York City Public Schools during a snowstorm.
- Joseph welcomes attendees to the oversight hearing and acknowledges those testifying remotely.
- She highlights issues encountered with online learning platforms including Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and Zoom, on February 13.
- Joseph mentions the Department of Education's (DOE) claim of preparedness yet notes failures during implementation, attributing some to IBM.
- The lack of a permanent Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the DOE and the recent appointment of a new CIO, Shaquille, is discussed.
- The hearing aims to examine DOE's preparation, response to the challenges of remote learning, and explore solutions for future incidents.
Rita C. Joseph
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Thank you oversight hearing on remote learning failures in New York City Public Schools.
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Afternoon, and welcome to today's oversight hearing on remote learning failures in New York City Public Schools.
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I'm Rita Joseph, Chair of the Education Committee.
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Thank you to everyone present here and to those of you who are testifying remotely.
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In anticipation of a major snowstorm, New York City Public Schools went remote, for the only second time since the pandemic on Tuesday, February 13th.
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Despite DOE chancellor, David Banks asserting that they were more than prepared for students to ship online learning that the DOE has taken sometimes as a school system to do simulation and to prepare students and teachers who are confronted with service unavailable.
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And with other error messages as they attempted to log on.
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Others, across the city reported issues accessing essential services, including Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and Zoom.
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While some other teachers reported that they were struggling to even log in to their emails and take attendance.
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Censsel Banks blame IBM for the issue insisting DOE internal team checked all boxes and promised a full analysis of what went wrong.
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IBM released a statement the morning of February 13, stating they were working closely with DOE to address the situation as quickly as possible.
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In the meantime, it had been reported that while DOE alleged they ran practice tests across the system in preparation for a shift to remote learning, IBM was not involved in those tests.
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Additionally, it's also been reported that DOE had been without an operating, without a permanent chief information officer for months.
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While an experienced interim CEO CIO was in place at the time, critics contend that the lack of permanently installed CIO 6 months into the school year contributed to the problem.
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More recently, February 23rd, it was reported that intake kebab, if I mispronounced, forgive me.
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Shaquille, who served as a CEO at the city law department, would join DOE as its CIO on February 26.
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At today's hearing, I look forward to welcoming the new d DOE CIO.
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Additionally, the committee is interested in understanding how DOE prepared to pivot.
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To remote learning and how potential issues were overlooked in that preparation.
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The committee is also interested in learning how DOE will address these issues for the next time, it plans to go remote, as well as any backup plan that may be put in place.