StudentsFirstNY March, Demand School Reform in Bed-Stuy

“Ain’t no power like the power of the parents, ‘cause the power of the parents won’t stop!”  

(Say what?)  

More than 50 members of the Bed-Stuy chapter of StudentsFirstNY, including parents, students and organizational leaders, took to the streets of Bed-Stuy last night, chanting, fists raised, demanding better quality public school options for their children in the community.  

Residents leaned out of their windows – some clapping – and bodega owners and retail store customers poured out of businesses along the route to survey the commotion, as the group chanted, “Ain’t no power like the power of the parents!” and “What do we want? Quality teachers! When do we want it? Now!”  

Even a local (and well-known) indigent in the neighborhood joined the protest, marching and chanting right alongside the group that walked the length of Marcy Avenue, from Fulton Street to Satellite East Middle School on Monroe Street.  

Satellite East, which currently has a performance grade of D, has alternated between Cs and Ds over the last four years, with only 23 percent of its students reading at grade level and 35 percent performing at grade level in math.  

“My son deserves access to the best possible education, [and should not be] forced to attend a failing school like Satellite East,” said Lidia Laguna, who said her son was forced to attend the 6th grade at the school because it was her only option in the neighborhood.  

“The Department of Education, the school’s principal and teachers all need to raise expectations for these students. Our kids deserve to do much better.”  

StudentsFirstNY is a community-led movement designed to mobilize parents, teachers, students and administrators towards meaningful public school reform. The organization launched in New York City April 2012 with five chapters in East Harlem, Crown Heights, East New York, Brownsville and Bed-Stuy, neighborhoods with some of the lowest-performing schools.

StudentsFirstNY Bed-Stuy chapter meets every other Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Marcy branch Brooklyn Public Library, located at 617 Dekalb Avenue.

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