Incoming New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks said Friday that rising crime across the city is driving kids to bring guns to school — because they’re “afraid” of the violence erupting in their own communities.
“Well, first of all, I think that part of the reason we’ve been seeing some of these safety issues, and the fact that so many young people have been carrying weapons to school, is because they’re afraid,” Banks said on NY1.
“They’re afraid of not really the issues that are happening in schools, but they’re afraid about the issues that are happening even in their communities and the threats, and so people have been bringing weapons to school,” he added.
“So we want to make sure that our young people are safe, not only in schools, but also in the communities that surround them.”
Banks, who will be at the helm of the city’s school system under Mayor-elect Eric Adams, made the comments just days after a metal detector was installed at the embattled Susan Wagner High School in Staten Island in the wake of two videotaped fights in and near the school — one of which involved a gun.
City Hall has also placed scanners at other Big Apple schools in the wake of major weapons busts or fights this year.
Meanwhile, school safety agent union chief Greg Floyd has lobbied for more widespread use of metal detectors, despite detractors arguing that they criminalize students.
Kids have even admitted to arming themselves primarily for reasons of self-defense amid surging crime.
While violent incidents — including stabbings — have occurred inside DOE buildings this year, many students said they are more concerned about their trips to and from their school buildings.
Meanwhile, Banks, founder of all-boys public school network Eagle Academy for Young Men, also vowed to “exponentially” expand Gifted and Talented programs at city schools — which outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio controversially proposed a plan to phase out.
“I believe in Gifted and Talented — that we ought to be expanding gifted and talented opportunities. We shouldn’t be reducing them,” Banks said. “You know, the unfortunate issue that we face is that our parents are all kind of chasing after the handful of good programs that are out there. We need to expand all the programs. And so this chancellor says we’re going to continue to expand on those programs.”
“Our gut is absolutely to maintain Gifted and Talented classes, but not to keep it in such a limited scope,” he explained later Friday morning on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.” “We are going to expand it exponentially.”
That puts Banks’ position in line with Adams, who said in October, “We need to expand opportunities for accelerated learners.”
During a series of TV appearances after Adams formally introduced him as next schools head Thursday, Banks promised not to combat “naysayers” who want to “maintain the status quo.”
“I think I would say it’s probably the dream killers,” he said, when asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” about his biggest fear. “And the people who are the naysayers who want to maintain the status quo. But I’m not — I don’t fear that, but I do recognize that as a challenge. But I recognize also, that the response and the answer is to go to the people themselves, to talk to parents, to talk to young people, young students themselves will give us the best answers for moving forward.”
As the head of the Big Apple public school system, Banks promised to ensure students are ready to succeed in life after they graduate, declaring the goal will be his “North Star.”
“We are going to prepare young people for a pathway to career success. Watching many young people go to school … they have no idea of what it’s supposed to lead to. The most North Star for us will be about helping young people to be prepared … to take their place in this new economy, to make sure that they’re getting those kinds of real experiences in the classroom, so that they understand why they go to school in the first place, so that they will understand what that light is at the end of the tunnel,” he said on MSNBC.
“I want the parents who are listening to me today to know that the difference [in] what they’re going to see in this administration [is] our North Star is we’re going to create real career pathways for economic upward mobility,” said the incoming chancellor on Fox 5.