Council Passes Bill Increasing School Co-Location Transparency

A bill that would provide the New York City Council and general public with academic reporting on all co-located schools in New York City, passed during Wednesday's stated meeting, providing an important level of transparency on how these schools perform. 

The bill, Int. 12-A, sponsored by Councilman Andy King of the Bronx, would improve transparency regarding the academic performance of schools that are co-located by the Department of Education by requiring the agency to report to the City Council and post on their website annually by August 30th, certain information on all co-located schools based on the prior school year. 

This information will include demographics on English language learner status, special education status and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch, as well as the reporting of information regarding student academic performance, including student scores received on state examinations. The bill would apply to both charter and non-charter schools that are co-located by DOE. 

 "This piece of legislation allows us to have a conversation and collect data that will allow all our tax-specifics on high schools that were co-located to get on the right page when it comes to education," King said. "I talked to parents, educators and we had the challenge of trying to figure out how do we make sure that our children receive the best and equal education?" 

The bill now awaits the signature of Mayor Bill de Blasio before becoming law.