Education

"Disconnected youth" is a growing problem for New York City with more than 220,000 young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school and are not employed.

We currently fail to properly serve nearly half of them who have not completed high school or earned a general equivalency degree (GED). The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) provides workforce programs for New Yorkers over 18, but does not offer Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) for job training to people without a high school diploma or GED. Unfortunately, the Department of Education does not serve youth over 21 years of age, so youth age 22 to 24 are left falling through this gaping hole in workforce development.

By expanding the Department of Education's Multiple Pathways to Graduation programs, a broader range of disconnected youth could gain access to full or part time GED preparation programs as well as job training and placement programs at Young Adult Borough Centers. We can also encourage more youth to stay in school by expanding internship opportunities and vocational training; they would be coordinated by the DYCD’s Summer Youth Employment program and Young Adult Internship Program along with outreach to local employers.

Vocational training would allow high school students to take CUNY accredited vocational courses for free or reduced cost onsite in high school as a value added for staying in high school through graduation with the prospect of gaining valuable vocational skills as well as a possible Associates degree. By providing graduates of our public schools with valuable vocational training, certification and on the job experience as interns or employees, we can ensure that they have increased employment opportunities upon graduation.

Nearly thirty percent of public schools do not have an arts teacher on staff and only eight percent of elementary schools provide mandated arts education. Principles, whose five-figure bonuses are mostly based on test scores and little on the strength of the school's art program - often cut arts programs. In an effort to increase a school's capacity spaces for arts education are often eliminated and replaced with an “art cart.” An art class is a place where a student who has trouble reading finds a unique talent, and a teacher who takes an interest. An art class is a place where a student who feels demoralized by his lack of math skills can foster his own creative way of seeing the world. An art class is a place where a student who is bullied by classmates or lacks a positive parental influence can find a way to express his emotions. Art is not something to be judged based on how well it improves skills in other subjects. Art is, in and of itself, important. Art, more so than math, science or English, is a subject that allows students, and indeed encourages students, to define who they themselves are, bound not by a right or wrong answer, but by the limits of their own imagination. I believe that the future of our City lies in our ability to think creatively and to foster the individualism and entrepreneurship that will spur the innovation that drives our City. Let’s require all schools to provide arts education to help us grow a creative and innovative generation to help maintain New York as “THE Creative City.”

We should provide tuition assistance for New York High School graduates or CUNY college students who wish to earn a degree in the computer and technology field. In return, they will be required to provide technology support in our primary and secondary public schools. Our City would benefit from lower technology costs in our public schools and our "Technology Scholars" would benefit from the training they received along with hands on experience, which would help them find immediate high-paying jobs in the technology sector. Such a program would also and create an army of New Yorkers who are experts in computer technology – an Information Age GI Bill.