Schools are essential—and we should be marshaling our resources and mobilizing our city behind a vision of how to open those schools, support our educators, as well as invest in a richer experience for all our kids across background, neighborhood, and learning style.  

Public schools are at the heart of my family’s life, as they are for so many of us.  My wife, Casey, and I have three daughters, all at PS 39 in Park Slope. I serve on the Parents Association and as an executive board leader in the District 15 Presidents Council where I’ve had the chance to learn from and support other parent-leaders as our district led the fight to integrate our schools.  And I’m proud to have the endorsement of over 30 parent leaders—including many past and present PTA/PA presidents, PTA/PA executive board members, School Leadership Team parent representatives, and other parent leaders from across Brooklyn.

Through these roles, I’ve learned one thing: if we’re going to secure the best future for our children, we need to fight for every school to be fully funded. 

This was true pre-pandemic and remains true now—if we want to return to equitable, 5-day-a-week in-person schooling, we need to marshal all of our resources. Together we can advocate for real leadership and planning in our schools, less testing, lower student to teacher ratios, equitable resources for outdoor learning, keeping schools open—if safe for students, teachers and parents—during the pandemic, increasing the opt-in windows for remote-only families, ending the budget clawbacks that is hurting local schools, and a plan for 5-days-a-week in-person school in the fall.

We can do this all while respecting learning differences, investing in teacher excellence, and making schools a place of creativity and joy.

Together, we can do this:

Together, we can:

• Prioritize a back-to-school plan that works for all families and is safe for teachers, staff, and administrators

• Fund outdoor learning, COVID testing, and ventilation for every school

• Base plan on public health research and developmentally appropriate educational practices

• Engage all stakeholders across our city—teachers, administrators, staff, families with a focus on families of color, students, and city leaders

• Fully resource and implement the plan ahead of time

Together, we can:

• Support and expand upon the successes of the District 15 Integration Plan

• Get the NYPD out of schools and eliminate over-policing of elementary, middle, and high school kids

• Stop our school system’s over reliance on high stakes standardized tests and discriminatory screening

• Recognize all families have the right to choose an education that they believe works best for them, including special needs institutions, parochial schools, and Yeshivas

• Shift funding to school diversity grant programs that incentivize the creation of community led integration programs

Together, we can:

• Shrink class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios

• Invest in our teachers, administrators, and support staff

• Champion universal summer school and after school programs to make up for lost time during the pandemic and to give more opportunities for students at all levels

• Re-invest in music, arts, theater, and STEM programs

• Increase special needs funding

• End budget clawbacks that decrease school budgets and undermine underfunded schools

• Think big: From surge programs for more teachers to transforming more venues into classrooms

Justin’s Advocacy on Schools