Schools Chancellor tweets controversial comment about diversity in schools
NEW YORK (WABC) -- At 1 a.m. Friday, New York City's new Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza tweeted a video - and it included what someone else had written about that video... 'Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools.'
"I didn't write the words. I retweeted the video and the report, and it was a great report," said Carranza.
That report was about a plan that would set aside 25 percent of seats for low-performing students - many of them Black and Latino.
The meeting took place at PS 199, a mostly white, well-to-do school.
"I hit retweet, and that's what I tweeted - but I think it's important to have that conversation. I can tell you I've toured all five boroughs, and this is a topic that is brought up in every single borough - how do we diversify our schools?" added Carranza.
The chancellor was not backing down on Friday. On Twitter there was praise saying that Carranza was being 'bold, brave and necessary.' Another tweet questioned whether he was being a bit racist, saying, 'is this the sort of headline the new chancellor should be tweeting out at 1 a.m. his first month on the job?'
'This was his own personal voice - we didn't talk about the specific wording in advance. I might phrase it differently," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Mayor de Blasio defended Carranza on the radio saying he could have said things differently, but he agrees - diversity and integration in New York City schools is a hugely important issues that all New Yorkers should talk about.
"I think our public schools should look like the diversity of our city, so I think it's a good debate to have."
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