Aaliyah Banks, daughter of NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks, has been promoted to district-level job in the city Department of Education without meeting the posted requirements, according to the New York Post. Her new position is as an ELA (English Language Arts) teacher for elementary school grades in Brooklyn’s District 14, however Banks’ state license is to teach children with disabilities in grades 7 through 12. Her previous position was as a special-ed teacher for grades 6 through 12 at the Bronx School of Law, Government and Justice, which was founded by her father. Aaliyah Banks’ new district job does not come with a raise to her $98,481 salary.
A DOE spokesperson provided the Post with the job posting, which stated that the position ultimately awarded to Aaliyah Banks requires a teaching license in early childhood education covering birth to grade 2 or grade 1 to grade 6, neither of which she has. The posting also stated that applicants must have “at least eight years of successful teaching experience,” while Banks only has five.
New York State has not been immune to the increasingly dire teacher shortage affecting schools across the country, after many educators left the profession during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the state, 80% of school districts have at least one staff member teaching a subject without proper certification, and 5% of staff are doing so in about a third of the state’s schools, according to the state officials. While the city has weathered the shortage better than the state and the country more broadly, serious concerns remain, as in 2022 the city lost about 2,000 teachers – the city’s worst attrition rate in 10 years. The cost and time associated with a master’s degree in education can also be a hurdle, and the lack of correlation between the degree and better teaching has led some experts in the field to suggest a different standard, like National Board certification. The New York State Union of Teachers has reported “persistent shortages” in special education teachers, among other disciplines.
The DOE spokesperson who provided the job listing also stated that Banks’ experience beyond the stated requirements “made her an ideal candidate for this role,” also noting that 9 other applicants were also hired “with licenses outside of those listed on the job description.” While these factors may explain her rise to a district-level position, the Post reports that administrators in Brooklyn’s District 14 did feel pressure to treat her differently: “one of my colleagues pulled me aside and told me [she was David Banks’ daughter]. He was advised to be very careful what we say around her.”
The Post’s story comes just as the Banks family is pulling out of city government, with Aaliyah’s father David, his wife Sheena, and his brother Phil resigning from top positions in City Hall as a federal investigation closes in on mayor Eric Adams.
