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This is what the system has put in place,” said Chris Gonzalez, a senior at Chelsea CTE who spoke at the rally. “In this building, we see the achievement gap, wealth gap, and opportunity gap. (The school also recently tweaked its admissions to give certain students priority, in the hopes of spurring more integration.) Teens Take Charge wants the city to abolish high school screens, such as test scores or attendance records, which integration advocates blame for deepening segregation. At iSchool, for example, students have to type up short answers to a series of questions. In New York City, students must apply to high schools, and the schools are allowed to set their own competitive admissions criteria. It’s just that they’ve been given the supplemental tools, while I haven’t,” he said, noting that he wishes he had more access to college counselors who could have helped him reached higher. “It’s not because they’re smarter than me. With his high school graduation on the horizon, he sees that students at the iSchool heading to more selective universities than his own classmates. The rally lasted for 30 minutes, or 1,800 seconds - roughly one second for each public school in New York City, which is home to one of the country’s most segregated school systems.Īlexander Ruiz, a senior at Chelsea CTE, helped organize the walkout. They held signs with messages such as, “We need equity,” and chanted in unison “Educate, don’t segregate!” At one point they linked arms before streaming into their separate entrances for class. “We thank Teens Take Charge for raising their voice.”Ībout 150 students filled a small park that fronts their school building beginning at 8:45 a.m. “Our schools are stronger when they reflect the diversity of our city, and we’re taking a look at our admissions processes,” City Hall spokeswoman Jane Meyer wrote in an email. The mayor is also weighing policy changes recommended by a school diversity task force he appointed. They cited $2 million in grants to school districts working on their own diversity plans - something that all districts will soon have to create, according to a City Council bill passed last week. Currently, I am a member of the Model Un and Debate Club. electives and clubs are what made me thrive the most, and discover my passion. Best College Prep Public High Schools in New York. Officials at City Hall and the education department pointed to recent integration efforts put forward by the de Blasio administration. NYC iSchool is a top rated, public school located in NEW YORK, NY. And they must know that our voices matter.” “De Blasio and Carranza need to do better. “This is a systematic issue that needs a citywide solution,” Carla Gaveglia, a senior at the iSchool who helped organize the protest, told a cheering crowd. The New York City teens said they will keep it up, with the hopes of building a citywide movement, until Mayor Bill de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza meet their demands. With these protests, they are borrowing a page from the playbook of 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who last year began protesting weekly in her native Sweden and went on to inspire a worldwide movement. It was the first in a wave of strikes that student activists with Teens Take Charge pledge will continue every Monday. Separated by a flight of stairs, there is little opportunity for them to meet.īut on Monday morning, students from both schools came together to push for bold action to integrate New York City high schools - including their own. A separate entrance leads to Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School, where only 4% of students are white. Through one door, students head to NYC iSchool, a selective school where 46% of enrollment is white - in a school system where more than two-thirds of students are black or Hispanic. Clubs are subject to change per year based on student interest.Every morning, students from two different schools stream into a shared building in Hudson Square, offering a stark example of segregation in the country’s largest school system. Extracurricular activities and clubs offered by the school that do not fall under one of the Sports categories (PSAL Sports or School Sports): Black Student Union, Coding Club, Anime Club, Creative Writing Club, Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA), iCare Community Service Club, iNews Club, Model UN, Rock Band, Social Activism Club, Vertical farming, and Theatre Club.
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