Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, chairperson of the Council’s Education Committee, convened a Kids Only hearing on March 19, attended by hundreds of New York City public school children, including dozens of children in grades K-12 from schools in the Village, Chinatown and Tribeca. Any child who wished to testify was given two minutes to share his or her thoughts and suggestions about their school or the public school system. Common complaints from Downtown kids included poor facilities, including many “disgusting” bathrooms, overcrowded classrooms and unhelpful and excessive test prep. “The Education Committee holds dozens of hearings a year. We hear from bureaucrats, advocates, union leaders, parents and school personnel, but rarely from kids directly,” Moskowitz said. “To remind the committee, the school system, the Department of Education and the public what we’re so heatedly debating all the time, I invited the public to City Hall to hear from kids and kids only.”
