We are Y.R.N.E.S.
the Youth Researchers For A New Education System
The Researchers
Maria BachaIrving Morales
Nzhingha Nkhrunah
Ludwige Saintus
Eve Tuck, Primary Investigator
Teresa Ann Willis
Joanna Vogel
The Participants
We are a diverse group of youth from all over New York City (NYC) who have come together for a common goal: to be instruments of change in the public school system. Because of our experiences as public school students, we are searching for something enormous: radical change within the public school system in NYC.
The Partnerships
The National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham University (NCSC)
33 West 60th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10023. (212) 636-6699. beam@fordham.edu
The National Center for Schools and Communities (NCSC) is a policy advocacy initiative focused on equity issues related to the access of children and youth to high quality public education regardless of their race, income, or language. Sponsored by the Fordham University Graduate Schools of Social Service and Education, NCSC provides data and policy analysis and other strategic assistance to community-led struggles to improve public schools and youth services. The Center is an active contributor to the citywide debates around mayoral control of the schools and possibilities for a human rights-based education system. In that role, NCSC has supported the work of the Independent Commission on Public Education; with ICOPE, convened Task Force 2009 to explore the potential for such a system; and provided technical and logistical assistance to the participatory action research of the Youth Researchers for a New Education System (YRNES).
The Independent Commission on Public Education of New York City (iCOPE)
PO Box 582, Brooklyn, NY 11215. (718) 499-3756. ICOPE.info@verizon.net
The Independent Commission on Public Education (ICOPE), is a volunteer citywide collective of parents, students, educators and activists, and founding organization of the Education is a Human Right Campaign. Over the past two years, ICOPE has developed an alternative human rights based vision of public education for NYC. ICOPE believes that system transformation based on human rights principles, not merely a change in governance, is needed to create schools that meet the needs of every child and place greater power in the hands of parents, students, teachers and school communities.
Human rights represent a legal framework, political vision, and global strategy for ensuring the equality and dignity of every human being, as well as a culture shift in attitudes and practices. Bringing a human rights culture to New York City schools would mean the creation of safe and nurturing environments for children that help fully develop their capabilities. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights documents guarantee the rights to quality education, dignity and safety for every child, an equitable distribution of resources, freedom from discrimination, and meaningful participation for parents, students and communities. ICOPE contends that the New York City public education system currently and historically has failed to meet these human rights standards. Further, the causes of these persistent failures are systemic and can only be addressed if acknowledged and then tackled collaboratively by those with the political will and courage to made the systemic changes needed for education in the 21st century.
Collective of Researchers on Educational Disappointment and Desire (CREDD)
credd06@gmail.com
The Collective of Researchers on Educational Disappointment and Desire (CREDD) is a New York based youth research collective that came together in February 2006 to do participatory action research on the policies and practices in New York City public schools that push out students before they earn a high school diploma. Their project, titled the Gate-ways and Get-aways Project, also explored youths' valuing of the GED in relationship to available routes to graduation. CREDD researchers facilitated the project design process for the YRNES project and provided YRNES researchers with training in instrument design, data collection, and analysis.
The Acknowledgements
Maddy Fox
Caitlin Cahill
Amber Hui
Brett Stoudt
Jovanne Allen
John Beam
Jamila Thompson
Ellen Raider
Alexis Morales
Craig Hughes
Michelle Fine
Kim Hall-Shapiro
Benita Lovett-Rivera, Report Designer
Carmen M Colon, Website Designer
