NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York City provided an update Wednesday on how it plans to educate about 19,000 migrant children enrolled in public school next year.
Many of the children face language challenges and have mental health needs.
“We understand that every child has a right to an education, and this belief is at the core of the values of New Yorkers and Americans,” said Schools Chancellor David Banks.
Banks said some schools close to hotels housing families are running out of room. However, he tried to assure parents that overall there is plenty of capacity in the system. Bank said tens of millions of dollars have been spent on English-language services, transportation and mental health.
“Everything has been OK,” Banks said. “We started welcoming these students in last year … and when you see the way the teachers, the guidance counselors, the social workers, the parents at the schools, it has really been an open-arms situation.”
Meanwhile, new numbers show 112,000 migrants have come to New York City overall.
Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom continues to call out state and federal partners for not doing more to disperse migrants around the country and make it easier for them to work.
Williams-Isom highlighted New York City sending a search and rescue task force south for Hurricane Idalia.
“In the middle of the crisis, the federal government asked for help, which was in our power to give, and we answered that call as we always do,” Williams-Isom said. “We too are in the middle of a crisis, and we are asking the federal government for help.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul is meeting with top White House officials to ask about work authorizations.
“When it comes to work authorization, this administration has led the largest expansion of lawful pathways in decades,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ahead of the meeting. “As it relates to this particular conversation and what has been requested by New York, I’m just not going to get ahead of the meeting that they’re going to have today.”
