Dear Editor:
Yellow bus service for most students is something that many parents consider will just happen because they live a certain distance away from their school. However, we have hundreds of third to eighth grade students living within school zones throughout Queens and New York City that have to navigate dangerous intersections in order to get to school, and they don’t qualify for this bus service.
Parents are told by the Department of Education (DOE) to apply for a hazard variance only to have them denied a few weeks later without a clear explanation why. It should be noted that the DOE has approved hazard variances about 16 percent of the time citywide-and only five percent for the borough of Queens.
This issue alarmed me, so I drafted a resolution recommending that Chancellor Walcott create a committee that would include Community Education Council members from each school district to review and bring transparency to the evaluation process.
State law doesn’t govern the process, which is why I presented it to the Panel for Educational Policy on Feb. 9, 2012, for a vote. To my dismay, it was voted down 8-5. Mayoral appointees, who make up the majority on the panel, didn’t see the need and were able to defeat my initiative, leaving me to wonder what else can be done to safeguard the interests of our parents and students.
Well, since state law doesn’t govern the evaluation process, my next step was to reach out to the State Legislature for help. Cathy Nolan, chair of the education committee in the State Assembly, was more than willing to sponsor and introduce legislation that will bring transparency and community engagement to the evaluation process, while safeguarding the interests of our parents and students.
I want to thank Borough President Helen Marshall, Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and the Community Education Councils throughout the city for their support on this policy change. My hope now is that other legislators in our city and state will also get on board.
Dmytro Fedkowskyj
Panel for Educational Policy
Queens Representative
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