NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor-elect Eric Adams has chosen David Banks, the founder of Eagle Academy for Young Men, to be his chancellor of New York City public schools.
An official announcement was made Thursday morning at P.S. 161 in Crown Heights, where Banks once was a student.
"I am deeply humbled, but I'm also ready," Banks said. "I'm humbled because this is a moment where God himself has put forth the word to say this is going to be a different day."
Banks, 59, is not only the creator of the all-boys school network, but is also a close friend of Adams, who is weeks away from assuming office from Bill de Blasio.
Banks said he will prioritize expanding early childhood educations options, improving “career pathways” for older kids and combating student traumas.
Banks will hold the huge task of continuing to push New York City schools out from the damage caused by the pandemic.
"Now that in-person learning has resumed we can't return back to the same dysfunctional system that was in play. These inequities were real and I know them personally," Adams said. "How did I go to school with a learning disability to discover it in college? Just by luck I was able to turn this around. You can't have a city on luck, you have to have a city on opportunities. So that's what we want to present and we're presenting that today. No more children crying themselves to sleep believing they can't learn. We're going to do universal dyslexia screening and those children with learning disabilities so that they can get the resources they deserve and we're going to stop demonizing learning disabilities. These children can learn, they learn differently, we need to learn their language and communicate with them in the language they understand so they can live productive lives, that's what David understands."
Eagle Academy first opened in 2004, developing into a full, four-year high school and moving into its “state-of-the-art” facility in 2010, according to its website. It has expanded from the Bronx to Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, Staten Island and New Jersey. It now serves grades 6-12.
Banks was also behind the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice.
According to the New York Times, Banks created the academy to help boys of color who were struggling and facing harsh discipline in their schools that left them feeling isolated.
Among the decisions Adams and Banks will face from day one will be what to do with the city’s Gifted & Talented program, which de Blasio announced he wanted to end.
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