The 74
“It’s frustrating to listen to Chancellor Carmen Farina talk about the state of New York City public schools, because the school system she talks about in press conferences is so far removed from the reality that so many kids face every day.
My son attends P.S. 289 in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, a chronically struggling school where just one in four children are passing the state’s math and English Language Arts proficiency tests. I constantly worry about his academic needs — the school’s curriculum, the lack of accountability within the classrooms, the poor quality of his teachers and the ongoing need for additional instruction time for his struggling classmates. I’m not alone in my concerns that the children in my community are not receiving a quality education. In fact, a group of P.S. 289 parents have come together to demand change.”