From Brooklyn P-TECH's 2011 Experiment To New York Governor's 2023 $31.5 Million Award for 12 More P-TECH's Across New York State

Pathways ?in Technology Early College High School?(P-TECH ) has completed 12 years of operation. As the founding ?principal , I am extremely proud. ?What started as an idea in 2010, has now been replicated in more than 10 states of the United States of America (USA) and 27 countries beyond the USA. The following seven states have produced P-TECH college graduates: Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, and Texas. The grades 9-14 model is a public/private partnership that includes high school, college, and industry. Our college partner is the City University of New York’s (CUNY) New York City College of Technology (NYCCT-City Tech), and IBM is the industry partner. Our foundation began when?President Barack Obama ?and Vice-President Joe Biden were occupying the White House and President Obama mentioned P-TECH in the February 2013 State of the Union and then visited our school in Brooklyn on October 25, 2013. In 2020 during the global pandemic, covid19, 5 states with IBM partnerships, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, and New York produced?P-TECH ?college graduates who experienced remote or virtual college learning. Science Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) were the areas that students graduated with 2-year degrees from their college partners.

?The 10-year anniversary of President Obama’s visit to?P-TECH ?will be here in two months. It is important that 150 Albany Avenue has some historical marker to celebrate the October 25, 2013, visit. I also suggest a partial street naming designation, President Obama P-TECH Drive. I cannot wait to see what happens. In 2020,?MDRC ?released positive interim findings on the 7 P-TECH schools in the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). This July, one of our assistant principals, Rachel Hill, was named interim acting principal of one of the 7 P-TECH schools (see picture below) . Additionally, with roughly 1 of 8 full-time first-time freshmen in CUNY 2 or 4-year degree pathways coming from the NYCDOE, NYCDOE has a tremendous opportunity to do more?P-TECH replications . P-TECH ?should be for all students in?public education . The two-year college degree should be the modern-day high school diploma. Covid19’s disruption to our worlds can help catapult us to reimagine public education for the better.

This July 2023, New York State Governor Hochul announced the state’s 6th cohort of replication. The announcement included 12 awardees for a total of $31.5 million. The first P-TECH outside of New York City was in Newburgh, New York and one of our former counselors, Anthony Williams, has been named P-TECH principal.

Three of the 12 awardees are high schools in New York City. The following three high schools will implement the P-TECH program:

·?????? NYC Public?Schools?- HS for Innovation in Advertising & Media - $2,656,158?in partnership with?City Tech: NYC College of Technology and the American Association of Advertising Agencies

·?????? NYC Public?Schools?- Urban Assembly for Emergency?Management - $2,467,640?in partnership with?CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College and Northwell Health

·?????? NYC Public Schools - Urban Assembly New York Harbor School - $2,588,895 in partnership with SUNY Maritime College and the Billion Oyster Project

The High School for Innovation in Advertising & Media is a New Visions school, and the other two high schools are part of the Urban Assembly Network . It is great to see New Visions and Urban Assembly begin to replicate P-TECH. Their innovations of small schools of choice have helped to improve New York City’s high school graduation rates and helped more high school graduates enroll in college. Most importantly, the Carnegie Corporation recently released research on new schools across the country. The research revealed that one of three students in public education attend a school that was opened in the last 30 years. Finally, in New York City public schools during school year 2019-2020, 59% of students in grades 9-12 attended a new school. In those new schools more than 70 percent of those students are Black and Hispanic.

In conclusion, the two graphics above show tremendous possibilities wherein the majority of students are Black and Hispanic. Akeeme and Kenneth entered P-TECH Brooklyn’s 9th grade in 2016 and finished 12th grade in 2020 at the beginning of covid19’s disruption. They both experienced skills-based paid IBM internships and earned the 2-year degree from City Tech and the bachelor’s degree from Hunter College by the age of 20. Hunter College was one of the five CUNY Colleges recognized among the nation’s “Best 389” four-year colleges by the Princeton Review. Thus, we know that the STEM skills can transfer to four-year colleges.