Giving Compass' Take:

New York City council recently approved a bill that requires NYC schools to create an integration plan if it doesn't already have one.

As schools are becoming more diverse, how can this bill help expand equitable education?

Learn about some of the benefits of school integration.


Every New York City school district that doesn’t already have an integration plan in the works will be tasked with creating one, under a bill the City Council approved Thursday.

This work is already happening in certain places, such as Manhattan’s District 1 and 3 and Brooklyn’s District 15, where controversial admissions changes have shown some promise in integrating student bodies. Five other districts are developing their own diversity plans using $200,000 grants from the education department.

It’s unclear how each working group would fund their efforts, though the bill says the city can lend the groups administrative support.

Before the vote, bill sponsor Councilwoman Carlina Rivera of Lower Manhattan told reporters that her legislation creates an inclusive process for a school system that “is failing to provide equitable education for all New Yorkers.”

Under Rivera’s bill, Mayor Bill de Blasio will be required to create a “diversity working group” in every district that doesn’t already have one.

The legislation passed the same day the city released preliminary enrollment data for Brooklyn District 15, where a middle school integration plan is in its  first year. Eight of its 11 middle schools met targets of having 40 to 75% of its students from low-income families, learning English as a new language, or living in temporary housing — up from just three schools last year.

Read the full article about NYC schools integration plans by Reema Amin at Chalkbeat.