(Originally Published on Teachers for Education Reform’s Website)
By Omar Lopez, Director of Teacher Policy
Today at The New School, NYC mayoral hopeful Christine C. Quinn spoke about her plans for education in a speech she named “Stronger Schools for NYC.”
With this speech, Quinn solidified her stance as the most reform-friendly mayoral candidate – though that’s compared to the other candidates who have campaigned in direct opposition to current NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education policies.
Quinn’s plan broke down into four sections:
1. Best Practices: She plans on taking the best practices in the current education system and using them to help replicate success. She gave Truman High School as an example of what can be done to turn around a large high school before it’s closed and split into smaller schools. In addition, Quinn plans on conducting a system-wide study with Columbia University’s Teachers College to find out what is working in the system.
New teachers can look forward to having an experienced teacher mentor them in their first year of instruction, using current professional development dollars to pay for it.
2. Learning 24/7: Also in the works is an online, multi-language parent university which will allow parents to see what their children are studying and receive complementary materials if they want to brush up on their skills. A ComptStat for parents called Parent 311 is also planned. This is meant to provide parents with the most up-to-date information on how schools are performing.
3. Comprehensive community schools approach: Inspired by schools she has visited, Quinn wants to build new schools with extra space for doctors and clinics from the community to offer services. She spoke at length about the multiple city agencies that do not currently coordinate. She plans to rectify this by the creating a new office, the Deputy Mayor for Education and Children that will work to bring these agencies together.