The Department of Education recently approved changes in the admissions policies of seven elementary schools to promote more diverse student bodies. While we appreciate that the principals wanted to integrate their schools, we believe the city's plan does not address the urgent need for structural change.

As community-based advocates who have been working in and with School Districts 1, 3, and 13 on desegregation efforts, we are concerned that the plan fails to address chronic issues of segregation and inequality that plague our city’s school system. New York is home to about 1,800 public schools; changing the admissions rules at seven schools is far from what is needed.

We support one way in particular to tackle segregation and inequality in our school system: controlled choice. The approach, in use since the 1980's to desegregate other school districts in the nation, is designed to be a district-wide (not single-school) plan that responds to inequality by ensuring that every school reflects the demographics of a given district.

In a controlled-choice district, all students and families have fair and equitable access to the public schools. Further, controlled choice addresses the current overcrowding crisis facing some New York City schools. Because a key goal of controlled choice is broad community investment, no school gets too under enrolled or over enrolled.

Controlled choice also ensures that the community is at the center of the application and enrollment process.

Our city is experiencing a crisis of inequality and segregation, one that has devastating impacts for generations. We believe we can do better, for our city and for all our children. 

CEC District 1 Admissions Committee

Ed Brown, first VP, CEC District 13

District 3 Equity in Education Task Force

Wendy Lecker, Senior Attorney, Education Law Center

Alan Levine, Special Counsel, LatinoJustice