First day of school jitters: Influx of migrant children tests preparedness of NYC schools

Damien, age 5, seemed giddy with excitement as he left a Manhattan homeless shelter, sometimes running and skipping along the sidewalk accompanied by his wistful mother, a migrant from Ecuador.

The huge public schools system has around 3,400 teachers licensed to teach English as a second language and more than 1,700 certified bilingual teachers fluent in Spanish, the language spoken by the majority of migrant families, according to Education Chancellor David C. Banks. Some schools expected to get a higher share of students living in shelters are getting more funding, with $110 million allocated for immediate needs.

In recent weeks, his mother, 22, has vacillated between elation and worry, especially fretting over her son’s ability to keep pace with his classmates. And she hopes there are good teachers at her son’s new school, teachers who would be kind and patient. Families with children now account for about half of arrests of people crossing the border illegally from Mexico, with more than 91,000 arrests in August, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss numbers and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Any city would struggle to receive the large number of children that are coming at one time, who are also learning English, as well as living in temporary housing or in temporary shelters,” said Natasha Quiroga, the director of education policy at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs.

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