Senator Monica Martinez, the author, speaks with students
As an educator and former school administrator responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of children, I can attest there is no greater fear than your students and faculty being in danger.
As school shootings and violent threats continue to spike across the nation, school districts are confronted with the unavoidable question of how to best reduce, prevent, and respond to emergency situations, particularly those involving active shooters. Having worked in the Brentwood School District for 14 years, I am fortunate to have never experienced such a tragedy, but many cannot say the same.
Preventative measures have largely spanned the implementation of door locks, metal detectors, surveillance, security guards, active shooter drills, and anonymous reporting tools. The inclusion of school security guards specialized in an academic environment and updated technological response systems within our communities may aid in strengthening schools’ response to emergency situations.
Student mental health programs are vital for supporting the long-term health and well-being of our youth. It is important to emphasize each school district and region has varying demographics with unique student needs; there is no one-size-fits-all model for safeguarding our students against acts of violence in school.
Recent school shootings and threats have exposed vulnerabilities and deficiencies in response systems. In New York State, our emergency response services are operating on outdated technology. There is modernized technology known as Next Generation 911 (NG911) that enables faster response times, improved communication, increased accessibility for disabled individuals, enhanced location accuracy, and effective coordination among multiple emergency response agencies. This could make all the difference in life threatening situations where communication is critical and seconds matter. We should remain open to exploring all viable options.
The role of security guards in schools has undeniably changed. It is imperative school security guards receive school-specific training in youth mediation and conflict resolution, de-escalation, and the dynamics of student behavior. This will ensure they are equipped with the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to serve our students in the most effective way.
Student mental health and well-being should not be an afterthought. Students are often in a school environment for over 40 hours per week. We would be doing them a disservice if we did not recognize and act on the need for supportive resources to empower and guide our youth through any mental, social, and behavioral challenges. Social and emotional learning must be incorporated into school curricula to help students develop important skills like stress management, resiliency, and empathy. As educators and community leaders, we must build a safe environment and a culture of acceptance within our schools.
At the end of the day, schools are a place for learning, growth, and development. Our students should be expanding their minds in class and excited about upcoming school events, not fearful of school shootings or any other type of violence. Together, we must raise awareness and implement holistic school safety measures to fully support our school districts, students, parents, staff, and communities statewide.
***
State Senator Monica R. Martinez represents the 4th district, on Long Island. On Twitter @NYSSenatorMRM.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
This month, the New York State Legislature has the chance to pass a state budget that will have a profoundly positive impact for thousands of students in New York City.
In February, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed lifting the regional cap on charter schools in New York City, and reviving “zombie” charters – a proposal that would finally allow more public charter schools to open their doors. The proposal would mean two things: more good schools in the communities that need them most and giving more parents a choice of where to send their kids to school.
The Governor isn’t alone in this fight – charters are supported by a vast majority of New York City families, and Mayor Eric Adams has been clear in his support for public charter schools. In fact, a new StudentsFirstNY poll was just released that shows just how popular charter schools are in New York City — 78% of Black voters and 81% of Latino voters believe charters can play a positive role in our school system; nearly two-thirds of New York City voters – including two-thirds of Black voters and more than three-quarters of Latino voters – want the charter cap lifted; and two-thirds of Latino voters are more likely to support candidates if they support charter schools.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with the thousands of families who have rallied with legislators for months to ask that organizations like Latinas on the Verge of Excellence (L.O.V.E.) and East Side House Settlement expand their work to lift up students. For that to happen, we need the legislative leaders in Albany to honor their constituents’ wishes and ensure that the Governor’s proposal is included in this year’s final budget. We simply can’t afford to leave this solution off the table when it has the potential to make a real difference for students – especially the thousands of students from Latino and Black communities who have been left behind by the education system.
When I immigrated to New York City from Colombia, I saw the disparities faced by Latina students firsthand. I worked hard. I put myself through college by working as a personal trainer, and was able to succeed, launching my own nonprofit – L.O.V.E. – to support, mentor, and empower young Latinas to succeed in school.
Over the past decade, L.O.V.E. has served over 2,500 students across 30 different public schools in New York City, providing young Latinas and young women in general the mentorship, college and career counseling, and targeted support they need to promote their educational, physical, and mental well-being. When schools quickly pivoted to go online during the height of the pandemic, so did we. Our program became a safe-haven for young women who felt like they had nowhere to turn to share their struggles, feel valued, and receive the social-emotional and academic supports they need to grow and thrive.
Today, we’re working to scale the success of the L.O.V.E program and open a brand-new school that provides individualized learning, wellness support, a college preparatory curriculum, and a plethora of extracurricular activities to prepare young women to succeed in their academic and personal lives.
We need to scale excellence where we see it – and today, we’re seeing it in public charter schools, where Latino and Black students continue to close the proficiency gap in both math and English, and where enrollment has grown despite the downturn in district school enrollment. We should be expanding these schools, not stunting their growth. Albany revived 22 New York charters in 2015, and they can do it again.
These are ideals that all New Yorkers can get behind. The only thing standing in the way is the charter cap, and because of it, innovative schools like L.O.V.E. may never be able to open their doors.
The state budget and legislative session in Albany isn’t just a selection of bills and dollar figures – it’s a reflection on our values as New Yorkers. So, the question is, what do lawmakers value more, the status quo or our students and families?
Now more than ever, we need to ensure that as we continue to recover from the pandemic together, we do so equitably and in a way that addresses the inequities that marginalized populations in New York City face every day. That starts with improving education, and improving education starts with lifting the charter cap.
***
Claudia Espinosa is Founder of Latinas on the Verge of Excellence (L.O.V.E.). On Twitter @LOVEmentoring.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Affordable housing on the docket (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
The great strength of New York is our diversity. Strangers from all walks of life share the subway, the sidewalk, and the park. Of course, it’s not perfect: spiking inequality coupled with an acute housing affordability crisis has fostered disparities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. But very few large cities anywhere on the planet has our “gorgeous mosaic” of the well-off and the working class; the immigrant and the well-established; the young and the old; the cis- and fluid-gendered; Black, brown and white, all living, loving and striving in close proximity.
To support this mix, New York is a national leader in inclusionary housing. The inclusionary model is where subsidized apartments are distributed within privately developed residential buildings. Inclusionary projects typically set aside approximately 25%-30% of their apartments for various tiers of lower- and moderate- income residents in exchange for financial and other regulatory incentives. According to New York University’s Furman Center, nearly 70% of rental housing built over the past decade used a tax abatement, producing about 20% of all new affordable housing units.
Last June, Albany let the current subsidy program (the alluringly named 421-a) lapse. The predictable frenzy to get projects in the ground prior to the incentive’s sunset has been followed by an equally predictable dearth of new project starts. The obstruction of the housing pipeline comes at a particularly unfortunate moment of spiking housing costs: just when we really need more housing production, almost none are being planned. Inaction, no doubt politically convenient, has truly let us all down.
As the budget season in Albany hits fever pitch, one hopes for a healthy examination of the program’s costs, effectiveness, and areas for improvement. However, it’s important to remember inclusionary housing’s ample benefits to avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
The program works for the population it is designed to serve. Lower- and moderate-income New Yorkers have access to the same community, transportation, and civic infrastructure as their wealthier neighbors. Critically, residents are not warehoused in under-maintained, under-served, and under-supported housing campuses.
The program takes the pressure off brown and Black communities to shoulder development. The mayor and governor have rightly called for desperately needed new housing to be equitably distributed. Wealthier, whiter neighborhoods have the bulwark of Landmarks, land use controls and lawyers that stifle development and increase socio-economic disparities. Inclusionary housing is a tool that can be effectively executed, using the higher values found in wealthier neighborhoods to cross-subsidize affordable production. According to the Furman Center’s comprehensive analysis of housing production from 2010-2020, while “most of the affordable units were built in poor neighborhoods populated by people of color. The 421-a property tax break for rental housing …was the one program that brought diversity to whiter and wealthier areas.”
The program maintains affordable housing. Owners and managers have the built-in incentive to maintain their properties to continue to compete in the rental marketplace.
The program is good for the local economy. Much ink has been spilled about how 421-a “lines the pockets of fat cat developers” and other hyperbole. It is worth noting that the design, construction, financing, and maintenance of new housing creates good-paying jobs for many New Yorkers from architects and engineers to electricians and concrete workers, to brokers and appraisers, to doormen and porters.
A full half of the 800,000 new homes in Governor Hochul’s housing plan rely on some form of revised 421-a program. As lawmakers seek strategies to address the housing crisis, they should look to the successes of 421-a in building a more equitable city.
***
Dan Kaplan, FAIA, LEED AP, is a Senior Partner at FXCollaborative, a leading architecture firm in New York committed to building a better world through equitable and sustainable design.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.