New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has promoted the head of the office of English-language learners to a deputy chancellor role, her latest move to shore up education and support for the city’s fastest-growing student population.
Milady Baez, who had served as the chief of the division of English-language learners since Fariña created the newly independent office in August, has joined Fariña’s cabinet as deputy chancellor for English-language learners. Baez is a long-time dual-language educator and administrator.
With the shifting demographics in the district, one out of seven students is now a language-learner in the 1 million-student school system, the nation’s largest.
“In less than a year, Milady has proven to be a champion of English Language Learners and exhibits the same keen leadership abilities, professionalism, and enthusiasm that marked her tenure as an educator for more than 30 years,” Fariña said in a statement. “As Deputy Chancellor she will elevate the Department of English Language Learners and Student Support in its support of principals, teachers and ultimately students to provide a high-quality education and targeted support to prepare our diverse students for college and career readiness.”
Chalkbeat New York reports that under Baez’s leadership, the district will analyze enrollment data to “identify schools serving large number of English-language learners ... who have not been offered comprehensive bilingual services” and release “new guidance for high schools that will include best practices for developing instructional programs for English learners.”
Fariña announced in January that the New York City system will add dual-language programs at 40 schools in the fall, boosting the number of programs in the district by close to 10 percent. The initiative will include instruction in Mandarin, French, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Japanese, or Spanish, depending on the school site.