Our Education Plan

Education Policy: Building the "Place to Be"

Change is often forced upon us, as we saw during the global pandemic, but true progress only happens when we lead with deliberation. That era of upheaval gave us a unique opportunity to rethink a school system that has been systematically defunded for decades.

The current New York City Department of Education was formed in 2002. Now, over 23 years later, the system is still struggling to provide the stability our families deserve. Our neighborhood schools should be the "Place to Be" for our children—centers of innovation and safety—not just the place kids "wind up" because they couldn't find a seat in a charter or private school.

The Architect’s Plan for Our Schools:

• Empowering Local Innovation: I will encourage and assist local parent groups and educators in District 38 to form 501(c)(3) organizations to capture grants and private funding that currently bypass our public schools.

• Safe and Thriving Schoolyards: A foundation of a thriving community starts with children playing in a safe, modernized schoolyard. I will audit state funding to ensure our local facilities, like P.S. 62, receive their fair share for infrastructure and safety.

• From Welfare to Work: As someone who worked at 14 with a minor's permit, I know the value of vocational training. I will fight to expand technical and arts programming that prepares our youth for the new economy.

• Neighbors Over Politics in Education: Decisions about our children should be made by parents and teachers, not party bosses. I am running to ensure our district has a representative who stands up for the truth in our classrooms.

In District 38, our children are our greatest investment. It’s time we built an educational system as resilient and dedicated as the families who live here.

The History of Our Schools: A Century of Power Struggles

Understanding how our schools are run—and why they often fail us—requires looking at a history marked by a tug-of-war between central authority and local community voices.

The Early Years and the Fight for Equality

While the New York City Board of Education dates back to 1842, the structure of elementary, middle, and high schools we recognize today didn't take shape until the late 1930s. Progress has never been easy. On February 3, 1964, over 450,000 students boycotted NYC public schools to protest segregation and deteriorating school conditions. For many of us, this is not just a history lesson; it is a generational struggle for the "New American Neighborhood" I am proud to represent today.

The Era of Community Control (1969–2002)

In 1969, a major shift occurred when the system was decentralized into 32 community school boards. This gave neighborhoods a direct say in their elementary and middle schools. However, this era ended in 2002 when the State Legislature passed Chapter 91, granting the Mayor direct control. The Board of Education was renamed the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), shifting power away from parents and into City Hall.

The Modern Deadlock: 2002 to Present

Since that 2002 reorganization, "Mayoral Control" has become a political football:

• The 2009 Lapse: An ongoing power struggle between state parties caused Mayoral control to expire briefly in July 2009, causing the system to revert to the old Board of Education model overnight.

• The Post-DeBlasio Era: For years, the NYS Assembly passed incremental extensions. Following the end of the DeBlasio administration in 2022, the debate intensified under Mayor Adams regarding the balance of power between the Mayor and the PEP.

• The 2024–2026 Status: As of 2026, the State Legislature has continued the trend of short-term extensions of Mayoral control, often used as leverage in budget negotiations. This "benign neglect" at the state level keeps our schools in a state of perpetual uncertainty.

Ruben’s Vision: Stability and Truth

As your Assembly Member, I won't treat our children’s education as a bargaining chip. We need a system that:

1. Restores Local Voice: Decisions should be made by those of us who live here, not just those in City Hall.

2. Ends the Cycle of Uncertainty: We need a permanent, stable governance structure that prioritizes long-term results over four-year election cycles.

3. Invests in Infrastructure: I will use my technical background to audit school spending and ensure that institutions like P.S. 62—where I grew up and still live across from today—get the modernized facilities they deserve.

History shows that when we lose local control, our neighborhoods are the ones left to clean up the mess. It’s time we put Neighbors Before Politics in our schools.

The State of Our Schools Today: A Need for Accountability

New York City oversees the largest school system in the nation, yet despite record-breaking budgets, our neighborhood schools in District 38 are often left behind. To fix the system, we must first understand where the money goes and who it serves.

The Budget Breakdown (Fiscal Year 2026)

The Department of Education currently operates with an annual budget of approximately $38 billion to serve its students. New York continues to spend significantly more per student than any other state—nearly double the national average—yet our local outcomes do not always reflect this investment.

Where does the $38 billion go?

• Non-DOE Schools: Over $4 billion is diverted to non-City schools. This includes approximately $1.5 billion for charter school tuition and hundreds of millions for non-public parochial schools and yeshivas.

• Special Education: Significant portions of the budget are allocated to contract special education services outside of the DOE system.

• Fixed Costs: Nearly $6 billion of the annual budget is consumed by pensions and interest on Capital Plan debt before a single textbook is purchased.

The Reality for Our Children

Our district is the "New American Neighborhood" in action, but our schools face immense challenges:

• Language & Diversity: 40% of our students live in households where a language other than English is spoken, requiring robust support for English Language Learners.

• The Poverty Gap: 40% of our children are living in poverty. While NYC has offered free lunch to all students since 2017, nutrition is only the beginning of the support our kids need to thrive.

• Infrastructure Neglect: For years, the DOE has failed to maintain our physical spaces. In many cases, playgrounds—the literal foundation of community health—have been converted into parking lots or ad-hoc classroom trailers.

Admissions and the Fight for Excellence

There is a growing push to move away from aptitude-based admissions toward race and socioeconomic status as the primary considerations. As your Assembly Member, I stand with Justice Thurgood Marshall’s vision in Milliken v. Bradley: our children must learn together if we are to live together. However, we must achieve this by raising the floor of every neighborhood school, not by lowering the ceiling of excellence.

Ruben’s Plan: Auditing the Waste

As a tech consultant and business owner, I see a system that is over-funded but under-managed. My mission is to:

• Protect Playgrounds: Reclaim our schoolyards as safe spaces for children to play, not parking lots for administrators.

• Support Vocational Success: Expand the "Work Permit" pathways I utilized as a youth to ensure every student graduates with a path to a career.

• Mandate Transparency: Audit the billions flowing to non-city entities to ensure District 38's public schools are never second-class citizens.

Our schools are still recovering from the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. We cannot afford more "benign neglect." We need a Community Architect who will stand up for the truth and ensure our tax dollars actually reach our classrooms.

The 3K2PHD Plan: A Blueprint for Lifelong Success

Education should be a bridge, not a barrier. My mission is to ensure every child in District 38 has access to free, world-class education from 3K through a PhD. We must move beyond the "lottery" mindset—where a child’s future depends on a random draw—to a system built on guaranteed excellence.

1. Universal Access and Fiscal Accountability

• The First Free PhD: I want to see the first Queens student graduate from Universal 3K to a PhD completely free of charge. Our CUNY system should be free for all New York City residents.

• Ending the Lottery Mindset: Currently, the lottery funds about 30% of our education budget. Getting a quality education shouldn't be a gamble. I will fight to "sift through" these funds to ensure they are distributed responsibly and directly to our classrooms.

• Redirecting Diversity Budgets: I propose budgeting the DOE’s School Diversity Advisory Group out of existence. These groups have failed to solve our generational segregation problems. I will redirect those funds toward universal childcare and 3K.

2. Empowering Local Schools (The Principal-Lead Model)

• True School Leadership: Principals should have complete authority over their schools. This includes bringing school safety and crossing guards directly under DOE purview, with Principals responsible for hiring and managing their own personnel.

• Civics as a Core Value: We will be a district of public servants. I will mandate expanded civics education to teach our youth the importance of voting in local elections and what it truly means to be a citizen.

3. Innovation and the "New American" Curriculum

• Competitive Technology & S.T.E.M.: We must extend innovative S.T.E.M. programs to keep our students globally competitive.

• The Bilingual Advantage: Having provided bilingual programming for over 15 years, I’ve seen that these students are more motivated and achieve higher grades. We must encourage and expand bilingual education.

• Inclusion in the Cafeteria: Kosher and Halal food options must be standard in our public schools to respect the "rich mix" of our neighborhood.

• Arts & Athletics: We must prioritize music, art, and athletics to ensure the sociological development of our kids.

4. Desegregation Through Incentives

• The Teacher Rotation Program: Segregation in NYC is a generational fight. I propose an "opt-in" lottery for teachers to rotate into at-need schools. By providing significant incentives and benefits, we can ensure our best educators are influencing the students who need them most.

• The Permanent Blended Learning Option: A permanent blended learning model is a logical solution to help children from different backgrounds "learn to live together" as Justice Thurgood Marshall mandated.

5. Student Safety and Transportation

• Protecting LGBTQIA+ Youth: We must eliminate the backlog of Title IX investigations and gender discrimination cases to ensure a safe learning environment for every student.

• Student Mobility: Free MetroCards must remain available to all students in need, regardless of the political status of mayoral control. We must also extend unlimited MetroCards for CUNY students in the SEEK/CD, ASAP, and ACE programs.

6. New Revenue: The Worldwide Remote Learning Pool

• A Global Classroom: To create new funding for our infrastructure, I want to open integrated, paid, worldwide remote learning options. Allowing international students to participate in segments of our school system can add significant revenue to support our local schools.

7. Supporting the Family Unit

• CUNY Fatherhood Academy: I will fight for continued funding for this free program, which helps young fathers (ages 18–30) prepare for HSE diplomas or college while receiving parenting and job-readiness training.

As a child of the welfare system, I am proud of the public education system I graduated from. From Chester Park P.S. 62to Queens College, my education made me who I am today. Let’s build a system that works for every neighbor.