On January 30, we interviewed Kay Notts, an administrator at Brooklyn Technical High School, a very nice specialized school. We wanted to interview her because we felt she would help us learn more about the SHSAT test and specialized schools. In this interview, we learned more about tests and school segregation, which was all pretty new and useful information for our project.

She thought that the SHSAT was the best possible test for students to get into high school. She thought this because they don’t see your name, address, or income of the students on the test so it is like a reset. There are a lot of other problems as well for example, she brought up school segregation she taught us about how testing and gifted and talented schools impact school segregation. They removed the gifted, and talented schools away from Brooklyn.
This makes it harder for certain students to get into better schools. She said that the SHSAT testing was not a huge factor for school segregation at Brooklyn Tech High School.

This interview was very interesting because we focused a lot of things we wouldnt have thought about learning before, like SHSAT testing and school segregation. Kay Notts was also very passionate about this topic so we were able to learn a lot more from this interview than if we had tried learning about this information elsewhere.

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On January 17, 2025, our field group interviewed Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, who works at the Robin Hood organization which is a charitable organization for those who have less money to afford things like food, child care, and education. Whose mission is to get people out of poverty. Their main mission is to get people out of poverty. In the past, Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon was the chief of staff to the chancellor of the NYC Department of Education.

When we interviewed Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, we learned that she used to work in schools that had low test scores, one of the reasons is because of funding inequality. Some of her eighth-grade students were stuck at a second-grade reading level, which is also partly because of funding inequalities. This was very frightening to hear because some schools don’t even teach their students how to read at a proper reading level. We also learned about the funding formula in schools. This is where schools get more money for kids with extra needs. Gabrielle said that the funding formula is very outdated because it does not cover the needs of kids now.

Learning all of this information was very helpful, and good to know because it helped me really understand how big and important my topic really is. Especially when she said that her eighth-grade students were reading at a level six grades below them. I always thought kids in New York had a decent education, at least decent enough to read at a level close to their grade. Hearing this made me actually feel sad because people deserve a better education. I think that because of this interview, I am actually starting to get more interested in my topic.

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On January 14th our group traveled to NEST+m High School to find out the differences between NEST and LREI. We interviewed an English teacher named Ms. Swann-Pye and the business manager Julie Longmuir. Over both interviews we learned about a variety of things. For example we learned about where their funds come from and how they are able to make education free since they are a public school.

While interviewing the English teacher, Ms. Swann-Pye we learned about the good and bad of public schooling. For example she told us about how quality differs between different public schools. Public schools in more wealthy zones get more taxes and intern more funding than public schools in less wealthy zones. She also told us about how necessary meal plans are because 30% of Nest students qualify which means that 30% of students are not financially stable.
After that we interviewed NEST’s business manager Julie Longmuir. She gave us some great information about the school and its funding. She told us that the PTA at NEST is very important because most of the families are financially set. 97% of their funding goes to staff salaries. In short, PTA funding is really important to NEST.

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On December 19 we interviewed Kate Quarfordt. Kate Quardfordt co-funded a charter school called ‘’City School of the Arts.” In this interview we learned about how difficult it was to be in charge of a school with strained resources. Another thing we learned was that a lot of the school funding comes from property taxes and that bigger and nicer houses pay more property taxes. She also said that it is possible to go to schools that aren’t in your zoning but they are harder to get into.
Kate also talked about how housing taxes go more towards elementary and middle school. Kate teached us about how charter schools receive money from the state and not from taxes. Something else I learned is that Charter schools can be more innovative and be creative with their curriculum but only receive 80% of the funding that regular public schools receive.

Something else that I learned during this interview is that zoning laws makes it more likely you will go to school with kids That have similar experiences and are similar. This means that depending on your zoning you will go to school with similar people. Another Thing that Kate taught us is that the American Dream is that you go to school then college and that you will live a nice life.

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For our first fieldwork assignment, our group interviewed Kate Quadfordt, a co-founder and art teacher at the City School of the Arts, a charter school in Manhattan. We learned that charter schools receive only eighty percent of the funding that regular public schools receive, but they have more freedom in planning their curriculum. Kate Quadfordt is well-informed about the inequities in public schools and understands their root causes, which stem primarily from a lack of funding and resources.

Kate explained the concept of “The American Dream,” which is often achieved through the education system in America. This journey typically involves progressing through the levels of education — elementary, middle, and high school. After that, one must attend a good college to be well-positioned for applying for jobs and moving up the ranks to establish financial stability. However, this pathway is not as straightforward as it seems. Many individuals lack the time or resources to attend college and may prioritize supporting their families over pursuing further education. Additionally, attending schools with limited resources often means encountering lower-quality teachers, textbooks, and classrooms. This illustrates the importance of quality education for future success.

Public schools located in neighborhoods with higher property values receive more funding because they benefit from higher property taxes. Since schools largely derive their funding from these taxes, wealthier neighborhoods are able to allocate more money to their schools. Another significant source of funding comes from parents. Wealthier schools often have strong Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), and affluent parents strive to ensure that their children receive the best education possible.

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On January 14, our group went to NEST+m High School to study the inequities within public schools. When we were there we interviewed an English teacher named Ms. Swann-Pye. After that, we interviewed the school business manager of NEST+m, Julie Longmuir. Across both interviews, we learned about many things. For example, we learned about where funds come from. Or about how amazing it is to have public education because nobody has to pay.

When we interviewed the English teacher Ms. Swann-Pye we learned about how good public education is, and all of the flaws within it. For example, she told us that some public schools aren’t the best quality, while others have very good quality materials, staff, and just overall quality. We also learned about how important it is to have meal plans because 30% of students at NEST+m qualify for the free meals program. This means that 30% of students at NEST are not financially stable enough to afford 3 meals a day. NEST is a specialized school, meaning it has helpful AP classes and a better PTA. To summarize, we learned about the flaws of public education, free meals, and the advantages of being a specialized school.

When we interviewed the business manager Julie Longmuir we learned some valuable, and useful information. We learned that NEST has a strong PTA because most families there are financially stable. We also learned that 97% of funds from the city go towards employee salaries. So PTA money is very important to pay for things like facilities or extracurricular activities. NEST was also given 265,000$ to install air conditioners in the auditorium. So it is very important to get as much money as possible to be the best school that they can be. To summarize, we learned about how valuable PTA money is to NEST.

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On December 19th our group interviewed the co-founder of charter school “city school of the arts”, my mother Kate Quarfordt. We learned that charter schools get 80% as much funding as public schools but aren’t forced to conform to some of the rules other schools have to give them more freedom for their curriculum. We also learned that to get out of the school in your zone, which depending on your income will vary in quality, you have to get into a specialized school which is hard to get into. You need tutors, extracurricular activities, tests and parents that have enough time and money to make this all happen which, for many in charter and public schools, are hard to come by.
All of these facts we learned just support our thought that zoning laws are meant to make public schools in certain zones low quality. And by doing that they make the students who go to that school not get the education of people with the time and money to go to specialized schools. Once they get through school they have less high quality college opportunities. And because of that they go on to most likely live in a zone where the rent is not as high so they don’t have to be stressed with the low paying job they most likely got after college. If they have kids their kids will grow up the same way they did and the cycle goes on.
These laws were made to keep the lower class out of power and the upper class on top. And the worst part is they work, only 62% of public school students in 2023 went to college. This is a real issue and one prominent in today’s society. In future field work we will discuss it more.

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On December 19 our group interviewed Kate Quarfordt who co-founded a charter school called “City School of the Arts.” We learned about how hard it is to run a school with limited resources. We learned that you can go to specialized schools that are out of your zone, but they are hard to get into. You will need tutors and extracurricular activities which cost money. Another shocking fact is that charter schools have more freedom than public schools, but they have 80% of the funds. This helped us get a basic understanding of our topic.

Kate told us about “the American dream,” which means you go to college and get a good job with a stable life. However, it is hard to get into a good college when you don’t go to a good school. Of course, with no college degree, or a degree from a community college will make it hard to find a high-paying job. Being in a low-quality school also means that you have lower-quality teachers, textbooks, classrooms, etc. This explains why good quality education is important later in life.

One thing that affects school funding, and quality is zoning laws. Zoning laws are when land is divided into “zones.” Some zones are not as rich as the others. That means houses are nicer in some zones, and property taxes go to school funding. Schools in poorer zones will receive less funding from property taxes. It is unfortunate that a lot of schools don’t get to buy higher quality things just because of where they are located.

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