Q&A
Council Member Avilés questions Mastro on bilingual education advocacy
8:09:03
·
156 sec
Council Member Alexa Avilés questions Randy Mastro, the Corporation Counsel nominee, about his past work on bilingual education. Mastro clarifies his position on advocating for improvements to bilingual education and providing parental choice, rather than eliminating it entirely.
- Mastro explains he advocated for improving existing bilingual education and giving parents a choice between traditional bilingual education and English immersion.
- Avilés questions Mastro's call to vacate a 26-year-old federal court consent decree, suggesting it would have eliminated bilingual education.
- Mastro emphasizes that the goal was to reform and improve the system, not to eliminate the legal obligation to provide bilingual education.
Alexa Avilés
8:09:03
Saving the best for laughs.
8:09:05
Thank you, Mister Mastro.
Randy Mastro
8:09:07
It's a pleasure to see you.
Alexa Avilés
8:09:09
The true heroes in the room are your wife and your daughter?
Randy Mastro
8:09:13
Yes.
8:09:13
They are.
Alexa Avilés
8:09:13
We're dutifully here the entire time.
Randy Mastro
8:09:16
And they haven't even begun to cry.
Alexa Avilés
8:09:18
I'm gonna have to talk with them so they can talk with my husband.
8:09:23
Onto the business at hand, I just I have a couple of quick questions just for clarification.
8:09:29
In terms of your work on the task force for bilingual education.
8:09:35
You advocated for the complete elimination of bilingual education.
8:09:38
Is that correct?
Randy Mastro
8:09:39
I didn't.
8:09:40
No.
Alexa Avilés
8:09:40
I did not.
8:09:41
No.
Randy Mastro
8:09:41
To be to be clear, so the council
Alexa Avilés
8:09:43
Let's keep it just super short you didn't.
Randy Mastro
8:09:45
I will keep it super short.
8:09:46
I I mean
Alexa Avilés
8:09:47
That's why I'm asking, Justin.
Randy Mastro
8:09:50
For improving existing bilingual education and giving parents a choice of traditional bilingual education, which we were going to improve.
8:09:59
And put more resources into that, but also to give them a choice of English immersion, which would have to be funded and staffed, and let parents make that choice.
8:10:09
To me Right.
8:10:09
It's ultimately what we should be doing, giving parents more choice.
Alexa Avilés
8:10:13
But calling to vacate a twenty six year old federal court, a Speeda consent decree, would have eliminated bilingual education.
8:10:24
And that was what you were advocating for.
8:10:26
That seems in direct contradiction to choice.
8:10:29
But I'm I'm a product of that bilingual education.
Randy Mastro
8:10:32
I understand that.
8:10:33
And I, of course, as you know, I have great respect for you.
8:10:37
But I was not advocating we were not advocating for elimination of bilingual education.
8:10:43
You needed relief from the consent decree to be able to impose the reforms and the parental choice we were talking about.
8:10:51
We were not talking about eliminating the legal obligation to provide by legal education.
8:10:57
We were talking about improved moving it.
8:10:59
So please counsel members.
8:11:01
Don't misunderstand.
8:11:03
We were talking about a better system, a parental choice where bilingual education would be available and hopefully improved.
8:11:12
And Parents would have a choice as well of English immersion, which would have to be funded and staffed.
8:11:17
And the New York Times didn't often say of the Giuliani administration that it did anything historic and it praised its efforts.
8:11:25
This was something that still for me is sad that it didn't get done.
UNKNOWN
8:11:29
Well
Randy Mastro
8:11:29
And then I wanted to give parents that choice.
Alexa Avilés
8:11:31
The New York Times has often been wrong, actually, for the record.
8:11:36
Let's move on to the I just wanted to clarify that.
UNKNOWN
8:11:39
Thank you.
Alexa Avilés
8:11:39
As you know, I'm the chair of the council's committee on immigration.