Queens Borough President Candidates Pitch Their Education Plans

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Six Queens borough president candidates weighed in on local education issues such as school overcrowding and diversity and equity at a forum Tuesday night in Astoria hosted by the local nonprofit Zone 126.

Addressing three to four dozen audience members, candidates agreed that Queens needs more school seats and that resources must be distributed more equitably among school districts.

"We need to bring fairness," former City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley said, suggesting that schools get to vote on capital projects, similar to the City Council's participatory budgeting system.

They also delved more deeply into issues such as chronic absenteeism and supporting the sizable population of homeless students by offering more comprehensive services at schools.

"Dealing with children holistically is how we ensure they move forward," City Council Member Donovan Richards said, suggesting that schools include food pantries, an idea echoed by City Council Member Costa Constantinides.

On charter schools, the candidates were more divided. City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer lambasted "corporate" charter school networks like Success Academy, which he said cherrypicks students, an issue also raised by Richards — though he didn't name names.

The six candidates who have announced campaigns — Richards, Constantinides, Van Bramer, Crowley, New York Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman and retired NYPD sergeant Anthony Miranda — are running in a special election to finish out the rest of Katz's term, which ends Dec. 31, 2021.

Katz will vacate the borough presidency in January to become Queens' next district attorney. Though the exact date of the special election hasn't been announced, it is expected to happen early next year.

The borough president's most major role may be oversight of major land-use issues, but they also play a key role in steering city funds to their borough and oversee a multimillion-dollar budget of their own.

The borough president also appoints members to community education councils, which govern school districts along with the local superintendent — a point raised by Hyndman, who, prior to getting elected to the state Assembly, led her local education council.

Hyndman and Miranda, who chairs the National Latino Officers Association, emphasized getting parents engaged with their children's schools and strengthening PTAs to combat chronic absenteeism.

Though the candidates' means varied, the ends were largely the same: "Every single child has to be given every single tool to succeed," Van Bramer said.

I’m in Astoria at @Zone126Queens’ Queens Borough President candidate forum on education, moderated by @RoccoNY1 (also a Queens resident).

Follow along with my thread here pic.twitter.com/nud0aAFGF4
— Maya Kaufman (@mayakauf) December 11, 2019