Students Press City Leaders to Move From Debate to Action on School Integration Efforts

The debate over how to better integrate New York City's deeply divided school system continues, with the city council considering various proposals, including a task force for specialized high schools, diversity plans for each district, more gifted and talented programs, and more complete demographic data from every school.

But Sokhnadiarra Ndiaye said she's had enough with all the studying. A junior at Brooklyn College Academy and a leader with the group Teens Take Charge, she said she skipped English class to testify.

She urged education department officials should stop saying segregation needs to be addressed: "Needs to be addressed is a passive voice," she said, calling on officials to use an active voice instead. "Let me put my skills from English class to use and change the sentence to one with an active voice. 'We the DOE do believe that segregation in New York City is an urgent issue that we the DOE need to address.'"

She noted this month marks the 65th anniversary of the Supreme Court school integration ruling, Brown v. the Board of Education, even as one of the world's most diverse cities is struggles with deeply segregated schools. "I've heard a lot of adults say how much they love hearing from student voices," she said. "I agree. Student voice is great. But you know what I prefer? Adult action."