蜜桃影视

Six months into his tenure leading the nation鈥檚 largest school district, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza sat down Monday morning for a colorful question-and-answer session hosted by the Educational Leadership Program at New York University.

The event was moderated by Clinical Professor Lisette Nieves, whose questions included some she had received from students around the city. The 55-minute discussion was wide-ranging, starting from Carranza鈥檚 personal background and leading to the issues that have defined his chancellorship to date, among them school segregation, access, and admission to the city鈥檚 specialized high schools.

Here are Carranza鈥檚 top 12 quotes from the event:

1. On United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew 鈥斅爓hom he called 鈥渕y brother from another mother鈥� 鈥� and the new teachers contract:

鈥淭here were many times he could have scuttled this, many times he could have led his organization in a different way, and instead he sat at the table, teacher to teacher, and we talked about, 鈥楻emember when we were in the classroom? What would have helped us be better?鈥� And there you go.鈥�

2. On what students are learning in school:

鈥淭he curriculum has to be as contemporary as our students. I give students a lot of credit for behaving as well as they do, because some of the stuff we do is just boring, and the way we teach it is boring.鈥�

3. On gifted-and-talented programs:

鈥淎re they really measuring giftedness and talentedness, or are they really measuring, when you鈥檙e measuring kids at 4 years old, the privilege of the parent?鈥�

4. On New York City鈥檚 specialized high schools:

They are 鈥渢he epicenter of privilege鈥� for people like Supreme Court justices 鈥� 鈥渢he ones who don鈥檛 like beer.鈥�

5. On public education:

鈥淚鈥檓 an unapologetic, unvarnished, absolutely vociferous defender of traditional public schools. They are the cornerstone of our democracy, and don鈥檛 let anyone fool you: As bad as they say they are, they鈥檙e not that bad.鈥�

6. On growing up as an English learner:

鈥淚 still remember my kindergarten teacher. To me, she was the most beautiful but biggest woman I had ever seen. This beautiful black woman. I still remember to this day, when I’m in department stores and I smell that perfume that she used to wear 鈥� because I couldn’t speak English, so I got lots of hugs. Lots of hugs. Now that I鈥檝e reflected and now that I know what I know and I鈥檝e studied pedagogy, I understand that she was creating a well-rounded social-emotional learning environment for me to be able to learn.鈥�

7. On social-emotional learning:

鈥淭he ability of a teacher in a public school system to create an environment where students will come into that classroom and feel supported, will feel validated, while we鈥檙e also going to help you develop your academic sense, is critically important.鈥�

8. On Aviation High School, which he cited as an example of a school that is preparing students for the workforce:

鈥淎nd by the way, all the young ladies that were in this program 鈥� because, you know, there鈥檚 this myth of who goes into this kind of careers 鈥� all of them had the most beautifully manicured nails. And I know a thing about manicured nails because I have a wife and daughters, right? And they were just talking shop like everyone else.鈥�

9. On critics 鈥� people he called 鈥渢he chattering class鈥� who 鈥渄on鈥檛 know squat鈥� about education:

鈥淢ost of them who have never actually led a school to better outcomes as an administrator or a principal, most of them who have never led anything except their car through the drive-thru, and yet they want to opine about what鈥檚 good and what鈥檚 bad about education.鈥�

10. On visiting schools:

鈥淥ne chancellor in the field is worth three in the seat.鈥�

11. On where he would have lived if he grew up in New York:

鈥淚鈥檝e got much love for the Bronx.鈥�

12. On educator preparation programs:

鈥淲e鈥檙e training teachers for a generation that鈥檚 passed.鈥�

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