In this opinion piece in the Gotham Gazette, Khin Mai Aung, director of English Language Learner Civil Rights & Policy in the New York State Education Department—and, perhaps more importantly, a parent— writes about the benefits and challenges of being part of racially and economically diverse preschool, the Helen Owen Carey Child Development Center in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It’s a school not so different from Hilltop.
Aung writes:
Exposure to classmates from a wide range of racial and economic backgrounds is important. Young children need precisely this type of exposure, even if the process by which they come to understand it can be messy.
She goes on to describe her experience as a parent within the diverse preschool community.
Community building is tough, especially within diverse communities, even when this very diversity is what drew you into that community in the first place… Learning about other parents’ experiences and the challenges they may face has expanded both my sense of the privilege I enjoy, as well as my broader understanding of educational equity.
For the full story, click here.
