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By: Ellen Cans
A recent survey dealt embattled Department of Education Chancellor David Banks with a vote of low confidence, the NY Post reported. Some 46 percent of New York City public school teachers said they do not trust Banks as schools Chancellor, per the troubling survey. The wording of the survey was, “I trust the Chancellor at his word,” with almost 50% of responding teachers disagreeing with the statement. Teachers were also asked how much they agree with the statement: “The Chancellor is an effective manager who makes the NYC DOE run smoothly.” To this question, 43% responded no. Per the Post, overall 32% of public school teachers reported dissatisfaction with Banks’ leadership, up from 30% last year. Back in 2019, when a poll was conducted about former Chancellor Richard Carranza, only 17% of teachers had said they were dissatisfied.
Teachers’ complaints include the rollout of “disastrous” and “snooze-fest” curriculum, like Into Reading and Illustrative Math, which were implemented absent of input from teachers. “The chancellor has forgotten what a classroom looks like,” one NYC educator told The Post. “He’s more a bureaucratic politician than he is a school leader.” Teachers also pointed to Banks’ lackluster response to anti-Semitism in schools following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. “He mismanaged the response initially, and the follow up was not effective or meaningful,” said Tova Plaut, an educator and founder of the NYC Public Schools Alliance, a group of teachers speaking out against anti-Semitism. “Educators are losing their trust in him because he has not been effective in ensuring basic safety for students and educators.”
School Chancellor David Banks, born in Brooklyn, began his career as a teacher in Crown Heights. He went on to work as an assistant principal before co-founding the Bronx School of Law, Government and Justice and founding the Eagle Academy. In Dec. 2021, he was appointed new schools chancellor by Mayor Eric Adams, even before he was officially sworn in as mayor.
The disappointing city-wide survey was taken from February through April— which is well before Banks became a target of the broad federal probes surrounding Mayor Adams’ administration. Per the Post, last week, federal investigators seized electronic devices from many of Adams’ top officials—including Chnacellor Banks and his brothers, Phillip and Terence, in what is being called a corruption and influence peddling probe by prosecutors in New York’s Southern District.
Banks told CBS News political reporter Marcia Kramer on “The Point”, that his personal and DOE cellphones, along with that of his fiancé, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright were seized on the first day of school. “Anytime anybody wakes up at 5:30 in the morning, and they have FBI agents come to your house, you don’t count that as a good way to start the day,” Banks told Kramer. Still, he said the investigation has not distracted him from the schools, “Not even a little bit.” “In life, you may have challenges, but always hold your head high, live your life and walk with integrity,” Banks replied. “I’ve
always done that and I would encourage all of our kids, all of our teachers and anyone else to do the same.”
The same Sept 4th raid also probed NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, who had taken the post in July 2023.
