Mayor Adams Appears, for the First Time: Open to Remote Learning in Public Schools

By Yehudit Garmaise

 

After insisting throughout his first two weeks in office that New York City schools will stay open throughout the Omicron surge, today, Mayor Adams said that he was open to “a temporary remote option.”

 

“We are welcome to do [remote learning] with the partnership of my good friend  Michael Mulgrew, who since 2009, has served as the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). “We want to provide the safest place for our children, and we want to have our children in school.”

 

Adams told reporters that he is working closely with Mulgrew, whom he called, “his good friend.”

 

“I think people are surprised to see how well we are doing,” said Adams at a press conference in front of the Manhattan Civil Courthouse. “This is not Chicago, [where the teachers’ union and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have been at odds for weeks about whether or not Chicago Public schoolchildren should be in school.]

 

“This is New York, where we are communicating with each other because we are both emotionally intelligent, and we can resolve this. We can get through this crisis, and we will find the right way to educate our children in a very safe environment.”

When the mayor was asked what changed his thinking about schools, he said that his thinking had not changed.

"The safest place for kids is in school, and I am going to continue to push that, but we do have to be honest that there is a substantial number of children, for whatever reason, parents are not bringing them to school.

"I have to make sure children are educated. We have lost two years of education: two years. The fallout is unbelievable in math and English. The numbers with math are frightening.

"My goal is to continue to push forward to get our children in school, but I must come together as a partner with [Mulgrew] to identify and bring into school the children who are not in school. For that I am willing to entertain a temporary remote option."

Other than for children whose parents are not bringing them to school, Adams said that all the experts say that not just for academic reasons, but for social and emotional reasons, as well, "Children must be in school."

Photo Credit: Flickr