LATINAS LEADING NYC

Submitted by ub on

After all was said and done, it was unanimous decision. Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito was elected 51-0 as New York City Council Speaker Wednesday, the first Latina to hold the second-most powerful position in city government.

"I want to thank every one of my colleagues. Whether you're from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, or Manhattan, we all have the pleasure of serving in the greatest city in the world," she stated.

Ms. Mark-Viverito is a liberal Democrat representing East Harlem. She grew up in Puerto Rico and moved to New York at age 18. Since that time she has devoted her professional career to nonprofits, labor, and politics.

For more than a decade, NYC's Board Of Education has been controlled by business executives, or a political flak. Carmen Fariña becomes the first chancellor who has a background in the educational field. None of the previous chancellors had classroom teaching experience with children.

The decision to select Fariña as new chancellor is being described as Mayor de Blasio “has officially ended the era of beating up on teachers and public school parents,” according to the New York Daily News.

For a time Fariña served as deputy chancellor of the B.O.E under Mayor Bloomberg but resigned because of difference she described as being, “philosophical.” But now it seems Fariña has found a philosophical understanding regarding the city’s educational system in Mayor de Blasio.
Both Fariña and Mayor Blasio assure that major changes will being coming to the New York City Board of Education.

In New York City there are a total of 40% of Latino school children from various Latin countries around the world, and sadly they still encounter the same issue Fariña faced. Fariña also adds to this statement that because of this discrimination, teachers sometimes pressure said students to Anglicize their names.

http://council.nyc.gov

http://schools.nyc.gov