“I don’t believe the best way to integrate schools is by large proclamations”
“Now you are the head of that system, a system that despite what Mayor Mamdani promised during his campaign, remains under mayoral control, and so there is no buck to be passed now,” she said, to a swell of applause. “You have the system. So while I appreciate the work you have done today, we want to talk about the work you will do.
“I don’t think anybody here tonight came to hear platitudes or vague proclamations,” she added.
Hannah-Jones made waves among educators and parents last month with an essay in The New York Times about her decision to send her daughter to a majority-Black, low-income school. While hailed by many as a clarion call for integration of schools in the city, Hannah-Jones herself wrote of how she now questioned herself for making that decision to send her daughter to the school. Tuesday night’s town hall brought much of the private discussion of the story to a head, bringing together the writer, Samuels, students, parent leaders and advocates to debate how the city can advance school integration.
Samuels repeatedly defended his community-driven approach to integration, citing working groups that are developing proposals focused on integration and academic rigor. He said the administration is laying the groundwork by engaging communities, establishing structures for those conversations and building the capacity of superintendents who will lead the work.
“I don’t believe the best way to integrate schools is by large proclamations,” he said. “We’ve seen that happen before and we’ve seen that that hasn’t necessarily worked because you have an organized resistance against that and so on. So what I believe is that we have to work with communities.”
His emphasis on process did little to satisfy Hannah-Jones, who accused him of being coached to avoid answering questions about the city’s integration plan. Samuels denied it and maintained that the administration was already carrying out parts of its approach.
