By SÍLE MOLONEY
Photo by Miriam Quiñones.
In response to remarks about remote learning made by Brooklyn borough president and New York City mayoral candidate, Eric Adams, during a Citizen’s Budget Commission forum in February 2021, which were posted to Twitter on June 11, U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), himself, a former teacher, released a statement on Saturday, June 12, condemning the borough president’s remarks.
The tweet was posted under the Twitter handle for The Matt Skidmore Show. Under the YouTube channel for the The Matt Skidmore Show, it states that “Matt creates a video explaining why voters should consider 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate and former tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang as their choice for the next President of the United States.” It also includes other Yang-related content.
NYC Mayoral Frontrunner Eric Adams: “With new technology you don’t need school children to be in a school building with a number of teachers. It’s just the opposite. You could have one teacher teach 300-400 students.” pic.twitter.com/elaChcS1oV
— The Matt Skidmore Show (@ZachandMattShow) June 11, 2021
In the extract, Adams says, “By using the new technology of remote learning, you don’t need children to be in a school building with a number of teachers. It’s just the opposite. You could have one great teacher that’s in one of our specialized high schools to teach 3 to 400 students.”
Image courtesy of MinofortheBronx campaign, via Twitter
In response, Bowman issued a statement saying, “This is dangerous. For a year, our kids have endured the trauma of remote learning without their peers, teachers, counselors or coaches. The learning loss, emotional & mental stress are well-documented, as is the depression. It’s unconscionable to make that the status quo for kids, but that’s what Eric Adams would do.”
He added, “It’s preposterous and insulting to say one teacher behind a screen can teach hundreds of kids. How will a teacher answer questions from 400 kids? How will a teacher give individualized attention to a child who needs it? Eric Adams needs to understand that our kids are not machines. They need attention and care, and that can’t happen through a screen.”
It is in fact an edited video.
— Evan Thies (@EvanThiesNYC) June 12, 2021
Bowman went on to say that New York City schools serve over one million children. “They need individualized care — especially those with special needs & English language learners,” he said.
“Maya Wiley understands that, which is why she will listen to students, hire more teachers, prioritize the arts, and implement trauma-informed care. Her vision is the exact opposite of Eric Adams, and it’s why she’s the leader our city deserves.”
Norwood News reached out to Adams’ campaign to ask the Brooklyn borough president to further explain his seemingly (from the extract) controversial remarks. His campaign referred us to a series of tweet responses, as attached.
No—he didn’t. Rep. Bowman retweeted a Yang operative’s misquote of Eric. Eric was talking about opt-in seminar style classes for students from under-funded high schools—and this was months ago. Just trying to throw mud on behalf of his candidate, Maya Wiley. Disappointing.
— Evan Thies (@EvanThiesNYC) June 12, 2021
A representative from fellow mayoral candidate, Andrew Yang, then tweeted the following:
This says differently pic.twitter.com/vvlhvgYmfP
— Shibani🧢 #Vote4YangNYC (@shibzani) June 13, 2021
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams made the remote learning comments on The Matt Skidmore Show on Friday, June 11, which was not the case. We apologize for this error.