EDUCATION
Department of Ed on Defensive at Council Hearing Parents, students, advocates warn schools failing to address rampant bullying
ANDY HUMM
Students testifying at the City Council Committee on Education hearing on bullying on October 30.
BY ANDY HUMM
O
ut gay City Councilmember Daniel Dromm of Queens, on October 30, presided over a hearing of the Committee on Education he chairs that heard more than six hours of testimony on bullying in the city public schools, with representatives from the Department of Education (DOE) on the defensive and students and advocates calling for a radical overhaul in the way this public health crisis is fought. In his opening remarks, Dromm, a former grade school teacher in his home borough, said, “Most textbooks do not mention LGBTQ contributions, offer no LGBT role models, and make LGBT people invisible. This must end! Antibullying education is worth nothing unless the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer words are used at every grade level.” He added that it was “unacceptable” that LGBTQ issues can only be brought up “at certain times.” And he decried the fact that students being bullied for being LGBTQ or thought to be so “often cannot tell anyone, especially if there is no visible supportive LGBTQ person.” “Bullying, harassment, and discrimination can have long-lasting negative effects on students,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, “but the issue is particularly challenging for certain populations such as LGBTQ students, English-language learners, and students with disabilities.” Throughout the day, students of color and their parents in particular spoke of a school system in which their lives and cultures are not valued or taught about, leaving them more vulnerable to bullying. Mireya Solis, the mother of a fourth grader, said, “I don’t want my child to be bullied because of his/ her skin color or told to go back to their country. I want my child to feel like they belong and are part of the community.”
GayCityNews.nyc | November 9 – November 22, 2017
ANDY HUMM ANDY HUMM
Among parents testifying, many were from communities of color.
Julian, a youth leader at the social justice group Make the Road, said, “We need teachers who are trained to teach and support students of color who come from various economic and racial backgrounds and identify as LGBTQ, gender non-conforming, and have disabilities… Having a culturally responsive education would help everyone feel valued and represented.” Elizabethe Payne, director of the Queering Education Research Institute, cautioned, “Bullying behaviors are not anti-social but rather social acts that maintain the peer boundaries for normal and acceptable within a peer context.” She explained that “proposed solutions have failed to consider how educational institutions assume and/ or expect heterosexuality and gender conformity of all students and thus limit possibilities for exploring why LGBTQ youth are so vulnerable. Consistent intervention is critical, but it is not enough.” Nancy Ginsburg, director of the Legal Aid Society’s Adolescent Intervention and Diversion Project, said, “We are failing [our children] because we have been slow to recognize and take into account the stressors associated with prolonged exposure to poverty, violence, and substance abuse. While we are willing to commit resources to law enforcement, we need to do the same for quality health and mental health care.” The hearings were called in response to the September 27 incident at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx, where Abel Cedeno, a relentlessly bullied gay teen, told Gay City News that he snapped as he was attacked in a classroom and defended himself with a knife, killing Matthew McCree and wounding Ariane Laboy. Cedeno has been charged with manslaughter, and his next court date is November 15. The New York Times reported that a 12-yearold boy with long hair at the same school was bullied and isolated so badly, including being labeled as gay even though he said he was not,
Councilmember Daniel Dromm, the out gay committee chair, was the only member to hear all six hours of testimony.
that he tried to hang himself with his sweater. That boy and his grandmother guardian complained repeatedly to the school and not only was nothing done about it, the bullying got worse as a result. Now — at the city’s expense — he goes to a private school where, he told the Times, “They treat me like I’m someone.” The lead witness at Dromm’s hearing was Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, who announced $8 million in new funding to enhance anti-bullying programs in the schools and other initiatives. Her department is being sued for $25 million by McCree’s family, whose attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, was called to testify at the hearing and decried the fact that metal detectors were not in place at McCree’s school despite being requested by the principal. He also criticized the DOE’s failure to enforce the antibullying Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) — state legislation requiring that incidents of bullying, harassment, and violence be reported and combatted. Dromm argued with Rubenstein about the value of metal detectors, and the students who testified said it made them all feel like criminals. Don Kao, the veteran leader of Project Reach Youth, testified, “What we really need are detectors for racism, sexism, and homophobia.” “Metal detectors don’t get at the root causes or prevent conflicts and don’t teach students anything,” Dromm said, “other than that they can’t be trusted.” He and many students and advocates, led by those from Make the Road, called for more “Restorative Justice” programs that are being field-tested in a small number of schools. Onyx Walker of the Urban Youth Collaborative said, “We don’t need double the number of school safety personnel than guidance counselors in schools” and called for at least one guidance counselor per 100 students in “under-
䉴
BULLYING, continued on p.18
11