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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Carina Layfield, Teacher at High School for Health Professions in Manhattan
5:08:54
·
3 min
Carina Layfield, a first-year teacher at the High School for Health Professions in Manhattan, testifies about the need for increased funding in schools to improve student experiences and reduce chronic absenteeism. She highlights issues such as bathroom cleanliness, insufficient counseling staff, and the importance of engaging students in civic action projects.
- Layfield's school has only six guidance counselors for 1,700 students, resulting in caseloads of over 300 students per counselor.
- The school has only one social worker for the entire student population.
- The city's chronic absentee rate was 35% last year, which Layfield argues could be improved with better school quality and increased funding.
Carina Layfield
5:08:54
Good afternoon.
5:08:56
Thank you so much for the work that you do for our city and for giving us the opportunity to testify today.
5:09:03
My name is Corina Leaffield and I teach ninth and tenth grade global history at the High School for Health Professions in Manhattan.
5:09:11
This is my first year teaching and going into teaching I'd hoped to find ways to engage my students in civics, especially at the local level.
5:09:19
This year my ninth graders worked with Generation Citizen to complete a civic action project in our school community.
5:09:27
Students were interested in bathroom school cleanliness, school violence prevention and combating substance abuse.
5:09:34
Students spent weeks researching how to improve bathroom conditions at our school, coming up with solutions like air dryers, providing more trash cans in the stalls for menstrual products and increasing cleaning routines.
5:09:46
However, each of these solutions cost money.
5:09:49
Increasing funding for janitorial services and cleaning products can increase the quality of students schooling experiences.
5:09:56
Some of my students indicated that they don't feel comfortable using the bathrooms at school because of how gross they are.
5:10:02
This is inhumane and our students deserve better.
5:10:06
Small steps like making sure bathrooms are stocked and clean will go a long way toward making students feel safe and comfortable at school.
5:10:13
But our students deserve so much more than just better bathrooms.
5:10:17
My school has a student population of almost 1,700 kids.
5:10:21
How many school counselors do you think is adequate for 1,700 students?
5:10:26
How many social workers?
5:10:27
Our school has six guidance counselors meaning that each counselor has a case load of over 300 students.
5:10:34
I had a student transfer into my tenth grade global history class halfway through the semester.
5:10:39
Her program had not included history.
5:10:42
Global history is not just a graduation requirement, but also students must take and pass the global history regents exam in the spring.
5:10:50
Missing months of instruction is unacceptable and should never have happened.
5:10:55
Our students deserve better and our guidance counselors need reduced caseloads to meet the needs of all students.
5:11:02
Our social worker, Ms.
5:11:03
Cooper, is amazing at her job and has a huge impact on our students.
5:11:07
But she is a single person and has over 1,700 students to work with.
5:11:12
Our students deserve better.
5:11:14
We need funding for more guidance counselors and social workers which would help reduce chronic absenteeism as counselors would have more time to follow-up with students who are chronically absent, to check-in on them, to offer support.
5:11:26
Chronic absenteeism is defined as students who miss more than 10% of the school year.
5:11:32
The city's chronic absentee rate was 35% last year.
5:11:36
It is unacceptable that two in five students are absent for more than 10% of the school year.
5:11:42
A recent MIT study suggested that if school quality improves, students are more likely to attend.
5:11:48
Increasing funding in schools can better the overall student experience and reduce chronic absenteeism.
5:11:54
Our students deserve better and what I've witnessed at HPHS is just a microcosm of the rest of the city.
5:12:00
Thank you for all that you have given us and thank you for hearing my testimony today about why additional funding is vital to our schools and students.