United Federation of Teachers wants NYPD to keep control over school safety agents
New York NY Nov 22 2021 United Federation of Teachers delegates passed a resolution opposing the transfer of school security duties from the NYPD to the Department of Education on Wednesday night.
The measure prevailed with 75 percent of the tally at the labor group’s Delegate Assembly meeting.
While members voted to maintain the NYPD’s purview, the resolution also called for changes to school safety agent training and operations.
The debate over school security has intensified in recent years, with some politicians and activists pushing for the elimination of agents in favor of social workers and guidance counselors.
The unarmed officers are 90 percent African American and Hispanic and 70 percent women.
Some argue that their association with the NYPD creates a criminalized atmosphere inside city schools and that school safety should be revamped overall.
Others counter that the agents maintain order in sometimes raucous city schools and often hail from the same neighborhoods that they work in.
Mayor Bill de Blasio backed a plan to transfer the school safety budget from the NYPD to the DOE by next year.
But he recently told NY1 that the City Council initiated that effort and he thought the agents were “doing well” under NYPD supervision.
De Blasio said his successor, Eric Adams, will ultimately make the binding decision on school safety.
Adams has previously suggested that he opposes DOE control over school security.
