Mayor Eric Adams’ Community OpEd: Starting the new school year with new buildings, new curricula, and more

We came into office with a clear mission: to build a safer, more affordable city. And our initiatives for our students continue to deliver on that promise.

As the administration running the largest school district in the nation, we are committed to giving our children a first-class education. And a crucial part of a great education is having access to excellent facilities, thoughtful curricula, and equitable early childhood education.

We want our students to learn in modern and flexible spaces, with state-of-the-art technology and healthy, green construction, and we want them to have access to science labs, music rooms, gyms, auditoriums, libraries, and all the services they need. That is why, for the upcoming school year, we have opened 24 new school buildings across the five boroughs, which will add 11,000 new student seats — the most K-12 seats we have added in a single year since 2003. This is in addition to the 23,000 seats already added during our administration. And it means that we can close all but 24 outdated trailer classrooms from our schools.

Additionally, for the first time in New York City history, we have provided offers to 100 percent of families who wanted an early childhood education seat and applied on time, and provided seats to thousands of additional students whose families did not apply for a seat. That brings the total number of students who received an early childhood offer to over 53,000 — more than three times the number who received an offer just five years ago. And over the past school year, we had 150,000 students enrolled in early childhood education across our system — a record high.

I understand the importance of early childhood education for success in school, college, and life. My own mother struggled balancing work and taking care of me and my siblings. Too many mothers across the city still face similar challenges.

I know that access to affordable child care is one of the major drivers of economic mobility, especially for women. In fact, leaving the workforce to care for a child can cost mothers up to $145,000 over their lifetime. That is unacceptable. And it is why our administration has made access to early childhood education seats across all five boroughs a priority.

In school, we are re-envisioning how our children are being taught by implementing a new phonics-based curriculum to improve reading skills, and a new math curriculum to make mathematics more accessible for all.

Being at school is a 360-degree experience. It is where our children learn, play, eat two meals a day, and learn life skills. Schools should be places where children feel excited to go, where they feel safe and comfortable, and places that challenge their imaginations. This school year, we hope to deliver that experience to all our students and their dedicated teachers and staff.