NYC teachers, community members pressure Dept. of Education’s Panel for Educational Policy

New York City, NY – On April 29, UFT teachers from the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) and community members who engages with the NYC public school system flooded the New York City Department of Education’s “Panel for Educational Policy.”

First, they rallied outside the panel venue at Sun Yat Sen Intermediate School at 5:30 p.m., with speeches calling on the department to give more material support for immigrant students being abducted by ICE, to oppose the encroachment of AI in public education, and criticizing the push from the New York Police Department to establish buffer zones around schools.

Teachers chanted, “When immigrant students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Then the activists went inside. They were all wearing red and holding signs like “More support for our immigrant students!” and “No AI!” The teachers lined up for public comment, criticizing their bosses, the education department and the chancellor about the backward budget plan and its connection to big education technology companies, as well as for the lack of material support and guidance for immigrant students.

While the panel tried to shut down speakers for being “off topic,” union activist and Bronx teacher Lee Dynes during his public comment, “When’s the last time you were in a classroom? If ever? It’s the teachers and the students who really know the problems that we are dealing with.”

A longtime MORE member and teacher said to the panel, “We have all this money for AI, but somehow we don’t have any money for legal support for our immigrant students.” She continued, with the crowd applauding, “We’re asking for some clear and immediate actions: we ask that the DoE denounce any detention, removal, or family separation by ICE within 24 hours; that teachers and school staff be allowed to go to 26 Federal Plaza during the work day to support impacted families, and trainings to ensure staff know what to do when immigration enforcement is outside of schools, and what happens if they come inside.”

In New York City, there are no democratically elected school boards like there are in other cities. Instead, there is “mayoral control”, where the mayor appoints the relevant positions of the DoE. Therefore, pressuring DoE officials at the Panel for Educational Policy, during a tiny two-minute 30-second window once a month, is one of the only ways teachers and community members can speak out on educational policy in NYC, and push to the forefront the most pressing issues that schools, teachers, and students are facing today.

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