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Urban Investigations

Voice Recognition

New York City has the largest public school system in the nation, with over 1 million students in 1,700 schools. But who makes the decisions about how these schools are run? And how can parents and students shape the schools in their own communities?

CUP collaborated with teaching artist Max Allbee and students from Vanguard High School to find out who has a say in the public school system, and where students’ voices can be heard. Students investigated the different bodies that make up the NYC school system, and learned about student and community decision-making power at the school, district, and city level. During their investigation, students interviewed parents, student advisory groups, and school administrators. Showcasing their work students created, Voice Recognition, a fully illustrated poster showing the stakeholders and decision-making processes that effect NYC schools.