I am an educational worker. I believe that the reason behind an education -- both mine and the education
that I have helped to provide for countless New York City K-12 students in the past decade -- is for the
pupil to serve a larger purpose in society. That is the reason for this application: I want to better serve the
New York City school system. I want to improve myself, improve my skill set, and help to jettison the
flailing educational workers that I lead through the many, overlapping crises that they face.
As a New York City community school director -- an organizer with nonprofit organizations
serving the city’s public schools -- I consider myself a walking resource in the building. Whether it is
tackling food insecurity, housing issues, college application processes, truancy problems, or literacy
programs, I am a capable community leader.
Still, it has long been clear to me that I am without the administrative leadership skills necessary
to affect real change beyond a certain level. Particularly in the pandemic, as many of the instructors and
other school staff with whom I work face burnout, fears for their and their pupils’ safety, and a host of
other challenges, I recognize that an education in executive organizational decision-making would be a
game-changer, not just for my career, but for the underserved communities that I help to uplift.
A great deal of my energies are devoted to crisis-management in this field. Since lockdown in
March 2020, I have worked both at an elementary and a high school, and I have seen firsthand the way
that school employees struggle with policy decisions made by planners who appear to be out of touch
with and unaware of the considerations of the communities that they serve. My current supervisor is a
program manager who works with five other schools but does not work directly with youth. There is a gap
between that director and the school. That director answers to higher echelons of policymakers in and
outside of the municipal Department of Education. None of the above visit our schools with any
meaningful frequency or hears the stresses faced by our students and parents. They do not know what’s
best for our communities. Sometimes, it appears as if they are waiting for us to make decisions, but the
proper channels for communication between us simply do not exist.
It has become apparent to me that the reason why I, in particular, feel disempowered to influence
discussions around the crises that my schools face is because I do not possess the administrative
knowledge necessary to speak with authority on policy making issues.
I realize that there many decisions that I would be unable to make for our schools, even with that
knowledge, but your program is indispensable to me insofar as I need the right words and the
organizational savvy to know what I am talking about when I try to communicate the need for change to
my supervisors in the New York City Department of Education ecosystem.