To what do you attribute the persistent disparities in achievement and discipline between non-white and economically disadvantaged students and white students? 

Five candidates are running for two vacant positions on the New Rochelle Board of Education in elections to be held on Tuesday, May 20.

Board of Education candidates (L to R): Myriam Decime, Elana Jacobs, Jessica Klein, Rosa Rivera-McCutcheon, and Keith Singletary

Among the critical issues in this election are the persistent racial disparities in opportunities, achievement, and disciplinary action in the city’s public schools.  Members of the Board of Education, who serve 5-year terms, will have the responsibility and power to make changes to reduce or eliminate these disparities.

New RoAR News wanted to know how each of the candidates understood this problem, what they intended to do about it if elected, and what qualifications each of them had to address this issue.

On May 3, New RoAR News sent each of the candidates a brief fact sheet on the disparities in our schools, along with three questions for each of them to answer.  All the candidates responded in writing by the deadline of May 9.  This week, we will publish all of their responses.  

To see the fact sheet sent to all the candidates and the questions they were asked, click here. Today, we present all the candidates’ responses to Question #1. Responses to Question #2 and Question #3 will be posted in the following days.

Don’t forget to vote on May 20!

Question #1: To what do you attribute the persistent disparities in achievement and discipline between non-white and economically disadvantaged students and white students? 

Myriam Decime

Labeling children as economically disadvantaged is an excellent start and very representative of what happens in our schools.  These achievement and discipline disparities between Black and white students persist, because students are labeled and tracked as superior/inferior, advanced/slow, well-mannered/rude, good home/economically disadvantaged from the time students walk in the door. Black students are being referred to needing services from kindergarten. Teachers tell parents they would like to have their consent to evaluate their child and the children never catch up and excel out of extra help, math/reading lab, support services. The Black children fall further behind with each grade level and graduate with a meaningless degree, that at best, leaves them taking remedial classes at the local community college. This is just the academics part of it. The emotional, education experience is you are not smart, you are not wanted and you don’t belong here.  

Elana Jacob

The disparities we see in our schools reflect complex historical, socioeconomic, and systemic factors. New Rochelle’s educational landscape carries the legacy of segregation that once divided our community, exemplified by the Lincoln School case. Although legally desegregated decades ago, the effects of historically unequal resource distribution continue to impact student outcomes today.  

Current data showing significant achievement and discipline gaps aligns with research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which identifies how “children from low-income families, particularly children of color, are more likely to live in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, underperforming schools, and limited access to critical resources.” These structural inequities create what the foundation terms “a web of challenges” that significantly impacts educational outcomes.  

 Housing patterns in our community still reflect some historical segregation, affecting school designation and the resources available to students. Combined with the impact of implicit bias in disciplinary practices, the effects of pandemic learning disruption, and economic stressors disproportionately affecting Black and Latino families, we see how these gaps persist despite good intentions.  

As both a legal professional and parent in our community, I recognize that addressing these disparities requires acknowledging both their historical context and the current systemic barriers our students face.  

Jessica Klein

The persistent achievement and discipline disparities in our schools stem from complex, interconnected factors. The data shows significant gaps – with Grade 8 English proficiency at 75% for White students compared to just 50% for Black students and 37% for Hispanic/Latino students. These disparities reflect broader systemic inequities.

Research confirms that students from lower-income backgrounds face significant barriers to education. Food insecurity, housing instability, and limited access to early childhood education directly impact learning readiness and academic performance. As an educator, I’ve observed firsthand how a student struggling with basic needs cannot engage fully with learning. Additionally, the impact of interrupted learning during COVID-19 has disproportionately affected students of color, with research showing greater learning losses compared to their White peers. This compounds existing challenges and requires targeted intervention.

Systemic factors including implicit bias in disciplinary practices (as evidenced by Black students being 3.8 times more likely to face discipline than White students) and inequitable resource distribution also contribute significantly to these persistent gaps. Addressing these disparities requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach focused on both immediate support and long-term systemic change.

Rosa Rivera-McCutchen

The persistent disparities described in the question stem from deeply rooted structural inequities, and they are not incidental. They reflect a long history of racial and economic segregation in our schools, community, and nation. At the heart of these disparities are what are known as “opportunity gaps,” or inequities in access to rigorous coursework and educational experiences that lead to advancement. These opportunity gaps are often reinforced by practices such as tracking which, in New Rochelle and elsewhere, begins sorting students into different academic pathways based on perceived ability beginning as early as elementary school. Additionally, disciplinary policies and practices often reflect implicit biases and disproportionately affect students of color and those from low- income backgrounds, leading to consequences that interrupt learning and compound gaps.

To truly address these disparities, we must be willing to confront and disrupt the structural conditions—both historical and current—that shape students’ access to meaningful learning and supportive environments. To be clear, this is not unique to New Rochelle, nor is the fault of an individual “bad actor”; rather it is the result of a long history of systemic conditions that perpetuate inequitable outcomes for underserved members of our community.

Keith Singletary

1. Resources & Support: Students from economically disadvantaged circumstances tend to have less resources at home to support them; our schools need to be designed to meet the student’s needs (particularly our younger ones) to build baseline math and literacy skills.

2. School Preparation: I have questions on how well prepared our schools are to serve a truly diverse student population. Unless the School District are thoughtful and proactive about addressing the needs of each student and/or profile of student, teaching to one, standard norm may leave many students behind.

3. Lacking Early Childhood Reading Fundamentals: A larger emphasis on our early reading (pre-k-grade 3) and reading intervention programs (grades 4-12) is necessary to give all students true access to the curriculum. This would help with student engagement in school, which would also have positive impacts on student discipline.