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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sally-Ann Famularo, Director of PROSE at United Federation of Teachers
4:36:38
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119 sec
Sally-Ann Famularo, Director of PROSE at the United Federation of Teachers, testifies about the PROSE initiative, which empowers educators to implement innovative ideas in schools. She requests $300,000 in City Council funds for the 2025-2026 school year to facilitate sharing of best practices among PROSE and non-PROSE schools.
- PROSE schools serve over 80,000 students across more than 250 schools
- PROSE allows schools flexibility in programming, teacher hiring, and student assessment
- The initiative includes many consortium and international network high schools focusing on project-based learning
Sally-Ann Famularo
4:36:38
Good afternoon.
4:36:39
I'm Sallie Anne Bonjomani Fanalaro, the director of PROSE for the UFT.
4:36:44
The PROSE initiative empowers educators to think outside the box and implement the most innovative ideas to better serve students and families.
4:36:53
Schools within PROs are granted contractual and regulatory flexibilities so they can change how their schools are typically run-in key ways, including how their school days are programmed, how their teachers are hired, and how their students are assessed.
4:37:08
There are over 250 pro schools within our network that serve over 80,000 students, making PROs enrollment larger than all of the Boston public schools combined.
4:37:21
Many of the schools within PROs are consortium and international network high schools that have an emphasis on project based learning and serve students who are new arrivals in our city.
4:37:32
PROSE gives its schools a unique ability to respond to what their students and family want and need.
4:37:39
For instance, the Urban Assembly Unison School in Brooklyn offers cooking classics, a hydroponic lab, and other valuable valuable enrichment opportunities during the school day.
4:37:51
The demand to join the pros initiative has grown each year and we are eager to expand the program.
4:37:58
We are also eager to facilitate the sharing of best practices amongst educators at pro schools as well as with educators at non pro schools.
4:38:08
There is very little time to share or generate new creative ideas throughout the school day.
4:38:15
This is why we are requesting 300,000 in City Council funds for the twenty twenty five-twenty six school year to bring educators together and host events at U of T that create time for sharing.
4:38:29
Magic happens at pro schools every day and we are eager to find ways to bottle it up and share that magic with other district schools.
4:38:37
Thank you.