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COMMUNITY OP-ED OCTOBER 24, 2025 | The Indian Eye 12
All hands on the desk as we serve and
deliver for our one million students
ERIC ADAMS
I
always feel that September, not
January 1st, is when the new year
really begins. That is when our
great team of teachers, principals,
and support staff across all five bor-
oughs welcomes our children back
after the summer, and for the next
180 school days, it’s all hands on the
deck as we serve our nearly 1 million
students. I know how much school
matters and have personally experi-
enced some of the challenges that our NYC administration has helped over 15,000 students secure $25 million in work-based learning through FutureReadyNYC (File photo)
young people face.
I have dyslexia and struggled to these opportunities from birth. It is meeting proficiency standards as set None of this has happened in a
read as a child. My mother worked why we expanded enrollment for our by the New York state Education vacuum. It requires inspired teach-
three jobs just to make ends meet Summer Youth Employment Pro- Department since 2012. ers, dedicated support staff, and
and make sure my siblings and I had gram and Summer Rising — to give But it’s not just about grades. steady leadership, including that of
a roof over our heads. And, yet, when students a place to learn and grow We are focused on the experience of Public Schools Chancellor Melissa
I got the right help, I was able to over the summer. And it is the rea- each individual child who now has Aviles-Ramos. Born and raised in
change course and, today, I am may- son our administration created uni- the confidence to raise their hand the Bronx to a single mother, Chan-
or of the greatest city in the world. versal after-school programming and in class and no longer hates to go to cellor Aviles-Ramos also knows what
Our public school system made me expanded FutureReadyNYC, so that school, as I once did. Maybe that is it’s like to leap over hurdles. She is
who I am — it allowed me to fulfill all children have the opportunity to why we now have the lowest propor- the first in her family to graduate
my talents and dreams, and I want engage in extra-curricular activities, tion of chronically absent students in from high school and the first in her
every child who attends our public get work experience, and prepare for four years. family to attend college. Last month,
schools to have the same opportuni- work or college even after the school Additionally, our administration Chancellor Aviles-Ramos hosted
ty. That is why, from day one, our ad- bell rings at the end of the day. has added 57 Gifted and Talented her first State of the Schools address,
ministration has been committed to Our commitment to nurturing programs to the system to serve our highlighting an expansion to NYCPS
a 360-degree approach to education. the potential of every student is also accelerated learners and opened Cares, a suite of signature initiatives
Our approach takes into account why we revamped our math and seven new schools for the 2025- to address systemic inequities in
the whole child and their life, both reading curricula. NYC Solves is a 2026 school year alone, including schools, new systems of support for
in and outside the classroom, from teaching method based on exten- the HBCU Early College Prep High literacy development, a new four-
birth until after they graduate. That sive research and NYC Reads brings School — the first-of-its kind in New part framework for artificial intelli-
is why we instituted universal dyslexia students back to the tried-and-true York City. gence, and more.
screenings so that, for the first time in method of phonics. I don’t want any Moreover, we have helped over If a girl from the Bronx can lead
New York City public-school history, child to struggle with basic skills the 15,000 students secure $25 million the nation’s largest public school
students can get the help they need way I did. in work-based learning through Fu- system, and a boy who was ashamed
early on. It’s also why we expanded These curricula changes have tureReadyNYC, cemented new labor to read in class can become mayor
early childhood education, which has led to substantial increases in read- contracts for our teachers and school of New York City, then anything is
reached a record 150,000 children ing and math scores for students in administrative staff, and invested possible in this city — and our great
across our system — because we grades 3-8. Our rates are higher than $180 million to implement a com- public schools are here to help all our
know that young families need a safe those of New York state in both math prehensive class size reduction plan students realize their full potential.
space for their children and that chil- and English language arts and reflect — so that each child receives individ- Eric Adams is the Mayor of
dren learn better when they are given the highest percentage of students ualized attention. New York City, NY
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