Education leaders discuss phones, safety during statewide stop in Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — State and national education leaders stopped in Rochester Thursday to meet with local lawmakers on the issues they feel are at the forefront this election season.
A roundtable discussion was held on some of the most pressing issues in New York's public schools. Among them were safety and security and cell phones in the classroom.
"The National Education Association does a survey and 95 percent of our members said mental health issues for their students was the number one issue for them. They saw a direct tie between that and the use of social media," said Becky Pringle, president of the NEA.
Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski attended the roundtable, and offered concrete examples to education representatives and lawmakers of the issues faced in city schools.
"Safety and security is their number one worry. Not just at the school, but especially in the neighborhoods. With certain neighborhoods in our city, there's violence outside of the school and schools can't really be as safe as they need to be if the streets are not safe," said Urbanski.
When it comes to phones in school, NYSUT leaders have pushed for a 'bell to bell' restriction policy across the state. This means phones would be off limits during school hours.
"There are lots of things that need to be addressed to make sure parents have a way of reaching their child during the school day if they need to, and ways that we can use phones for instruction when we need to. There are lots of details to be worked out, but we believe those are things we can collectively solve together," said Melinda Person, president of NYSUT.
Leaders feel it would eliminate distractions and foster a better learning environment.
"Despite all of these challenges, our teachers are getting up every day and going into classrooms and work sites and doing the very best they can. They are filling every gap and we see that. We get to experience that," said Pringle.
Urbanski says for RCSD, he'd like to see legislation passed to limit phone use in schools. Gov. Hochul has previously said she supports the idea of that type of legislation, but also believes districts can act independently, as seen locally.
